


The Real World

by Cinammonzoa, Fire_Fly464



Series: Split Realities [1]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Also Dream's evil but its fine whatever, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Canon Rewrite, Dream Team SMP - Freeform, DreamSMP - Freeform, Everyone Needs A Hug, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, L'manberg revolution, Major Character Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, how the fuck do you tag things???, l'manberg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 54,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26896927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinammonzoa/pseuds/Cinammonzoa, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Fly464/pseuds/Fire_Fly464
Summary: "Ten, paces fire!"Time stopped.Tommy’s entire body went numb. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but his body was determined to keep him silent. His vision went dark, and he could no longer feel his headphones over his ears. The mouse in his hand. The slight breeze of his ceiling fan. For a few seconds, he couldn’t feel anything.His senses came back to him all at once. The first thing Tommy noticed was the weight in his right hand -- a bow. His nostrils stung with the lingering scent of gunpowder. In front of him was a masked figure. Their right arm was bent, their elbow by their face. In their left hand was a bow, aiming directly at--~~~Aka Dream and Tommy get transported into the SMP world and have no idea what the fuck is happening
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Just wholesome friendships :D, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: Split Realities [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984448
Comments: 1197
Kudos: 2522
Collections: Crème de la crème of MCYT fics, MCYT Fic Rec





	1. Prologue

"One... Two... Three..."

Wilbur’s voice rang out through the Discord call.

Dream held down the W key and scrolled through his hotbar to get to his bow. He grinned, holding the right button on his mouse. A pixelated arrow is knocked onto the bow and he takes a breath.

"Four... Five... Six..."

Tommy slowly moved his character forward, loading his bow. He only had one chance. He gulped.

"Seven... Eight... Nine..."

Dream took a deep breath while Tommy held his own. Each of them turned their avatars to face each other.

"Ten, paces fire!"

Time stopped.

Tommy’s entire body went numb. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but his body was determined to keep him silent. His vision went dark, and he could no longer feel his headphones over his ears. The mouse in his hand. The slight breeze of his ceiling fan. For a few seconds, he couldn’t feel anything.

His senses came back to him all at once. The first thing Tommy noticed was the weight in his right hand -- a bow. His nostrils stung with the lingering scent of gunpowder. In front of him was a masked figure. Their right arm was bent, their elbow by their face. In their left hand was a bow, aiming directly at--

Pain. A searing, awful pain coursed through Tommy’s side. He dropped his bow in shock, his hands shooting to his wound. His coat was wet. Blood?

Only moments later did he realize what had happened to him: he had been shot.

Tommy tried to cry out for help, to ask what was happening, where he was, but all that came out was a small trickle of blood. He winced. His knees shook, and he collapsed to the ground in pain.

People cried out in anguish. As much as he tried, Tommy couldn’t make out individual voices. Some shouted his name, others just screamed. Pain clouded his senses, his vision blurring.

A hand reached under him, pulling him into someone’s chest. Tommy could barely make out the shape of the person lifting him. He watched as the figure ripped off the porcelain mask over their face and tossed it to the ground. The man’s eyes were wide with sheer terror. He was muttering something too quiet for Tommy to hear.

“Get off of him, you cretin!” He heard someone scream. Wilbur?

He fell to the ground again as Wilbur dragged the other man off of him. For some reason, the man didn’t resist Wilbur’s grip at all. He just watched on in horror.

Tommy could feel himself drifting off again as Wilbur knelt down next to him. There was a commotion all around him, Wilbur barking orders to “bring as many bandages as you can carry” and to “not let Dream get within ten _fucking_ feet” of him.

He let out a whimper, and Wilbur immediately turned to him. “Tommy, hang in there. We’re getting you help. You’re gonna be fine.”

The other man -- Dream? -- stepped forward. “Wilbur, please, let me help, I--”

“I think you’ve done enough,” he spat.

As he lost consciousness, Tommy only had one thought on his mind.

_What the fuck…?_


	2. Chapter 2

Dream sat in his base, his eyes trained on the broken mask at his feet. He hated looking at it. Stained with the blood and soot, all it did was remind him of the horrible thing he had just done. Hell, everything around him smelled like blood. His green hoodie was a spattering of scorch marks and red stains. His skin was covered in bandages, but he could hardly feel the wounds underneath. All he could think about was the fact that he may have just killed Tommy. 

Everyone around him was acting like it was the best thing in the world, telling jokes and congratulating each other. Whenever he asked them what was going on, they all looked at him as though he had gone insane. To be completely fair, perhaps they weren’t too far off from the truth. He certainly didn’t feel sane. The last thing he remembered was sitting at his desk, playing minecraft with everyone. Him and Tommy had just agreed to… Oh. 

Dreams head shot up as everything clicked into place. The strange mask, the duel, hell, even Wilbur’s harsh reaction towards him. Another wave of shame washed over him. God, he had been the one to agree to the duel. He had even taunted the young boy, knowing how competitive and hot headed he was. And then he had just shot his friend in the heart. 

George walked over to him, his eyes filled with concern. “You alright?” he asked. 

Dream looks up, his cheeks stained with tears. “I-” he starts, another wave of sobs raking his body. He’s unable to speak. 

George's eyes widened in surprise. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Dream like this. He didn’t know what to do. And so he just sits down, silently attempting to comfort his grieving friend. 

~~~

Tommy’s eyes shot open, a gasp escaping him. He instinctively sat up, only to fall back down immediately when a sharp burst of pain tore through him. The agony was nearly enough to make him pass out once more. 

A tear-streaked face fills his vision as he stared at the ceiling. It took him a moment, but he was able to recognize Tubbo, despite the strange uniform he was wearing. A smile of relief filled Tubbos face. He threw his arms around Tommy in a giant bear hug, but quickly pulled back when he heard his friends cry of pain.

“Tubbo…!” he choked out, trying his best to communicate just how much pain he was in. 

“Right, right sorry. I was just… I’m really happy to see you awake man” He said “I- I’ll go get Wilbur. God we’ve been so worried about you” He quickly rushed out of the strange… room, leaving Tommy in confusion.

Tommy looked around, trying to figure out where the hell he was. He was laying in a red bed that was pushed into the corner of a small room. Next to him, on a wooden nightstand, was a hat, nearly identical to the one that Tubbo had been wearing. It almost looked like the hat on the L’manberg skins that had been made for the war. In fact, a lot of his surroundings reminded him of L’manberg. A uniform jacket was hanging on the wall as well. Next to his bed was a wooden chair, most likely where Tubbo had been sitting. How long had he been out? He looked around for an alarm clock, but was a bit surprised to find that there was none. Instead, he only started processing The front of it looked like it had been caught in an explosion and hastily boarded up. He couldn’t see much out of the windows from where he was, but he could see the top of a tall black wall, almost like a fortress. It was slightly ominous, but he felt comforted as he looked at it. 

Just then, the makeshift door slammed open, causing the entire room to shake. Wilbur rushed in, wearing the same uniform as Tubbo. Tommy shrank back as he saw the raw pain and fear in Wilburs eyes. The fact that it was directed at him only made him more scared. He had never actually met up with Wilbur before in real life, so the fact that this was their first actual meeting was quite worrying 

The older man walked over to Tommy's bedside and sat down in the wooden chair, placing his arms on his knees as he looked at Tommy dead in the eyes. 

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that? Do you have any idea how scared we’ve been? How terrified I was that you wouldn’t wake up?” His voice was no longer calm and measured like normal. It was shaky, as if he were trying to hold back tears. 

“What? What do you mean? What did I do?” Tommy asks. His voice was raspy and quiet, his throat dry. 

Wilbur looked stunned “Are you serious? You challenged Dream to a fucking duel! You risked your life for L’manburg! Tommy… We could have… We could have just surrendered peacefully. You didn’t need to go and risk your life for us,” He sounded angry, but Wilbur felt like if he didn’t yell at Tommy, he was going to break down sobbing. 

Meanwhile, all the pieces of the puzzle were finally clicking into place for the young teenager “Wait. You mean… That was all real? The bows? Dream shooting at me?” 

“Of course it was real!”

“But… that was just in-game…” he mutters to himself 

Wilbur looks stunned “Tommy this isn’t a fucking game! This is war! You could have died out there! Dream was damn close to stabbing you after he shot you”

Tommy thinks for a moment, remembering the way Dream had rushed to his side after he had fallen. Maybe he knew what was going on? Whatever the case, he needed to talk to him. But one look at Wilbur's face said that there was no way in hell he was going to allow that to happen any time soon. It was likely better to just keep his head down until he could at least get out of bed. 

“sorry…” He mumbled quietly

Wilburs expression softened “It's fine… You don’t need to apologize. I understand why you did it. Just, don’t be such a dumbass next time” 

Tommy nods “Alright” he thinks for a moment “We lost, didn’t we” 

The older man seems to age ten years right before tommys eyes “Yeah… I surrendered as soon as I knew you were in a stable condition. The peace treaty hasn’t been signed yet. Everyone wanted you to be there for it”

“Thanks…” Maybe that could be his chance. He knew that in order to negotiate the terms of surrender, they would have to have some sort of conference. Perhaps then he could talk with Dream? “I um, I think I’m gonna rest a bit more. Let the others know I’ll be available for visits soon” In reality, he just needed time to think

Wilbur nods and stands up “Of course. I’ll go let them all know you’re awake” As he goes to leave the broken up and busted trailer, he turns to Tommy one last time “Oh, and Tommy? I’m really glad you’re ok”


	3. Chapter 3

Tommy sat on top of the destroyed van, staring at a sword in his lap. His head was spinning violently, and it took all his energy to keep from falling onto the ground below. 

Several days had passed since he had initially woken up from his injury. Several boring, uneventful days. Sure, people had come to visit him, but they were all busy trying to rebuild from the war. He had felt so useless just laying there, unable to get up and help. He wanted to go and figure out what was going on, not lay in bed. 

And so he had done the one thing he could think of. He had raided the van for every health potion he could find and drank them all. After all, Wilbur had told him to drink a potion every day to help heal his wound. Apparently there was a good reason for the slow process. As it turned out, even drinking a single health potion was enough to make one feel slightly woozy. Drinking 5 was enough to make him incredibly nauseous. Sure, it had healed his wound from the arrow, but it had also made him feel miserable. 

He shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his brain. Honestly, what was the point of being able to walk around if he couldn’t even think straight? God, Wilbur was going to kill him. 

He watched as his friends went around, trying to rebuild L’manberg. It wasn’t very big, but the damage caused by the war was immense. The entrance was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Surrounding it were massive craters, as if it were blown to bits. He shook his head again, remembering exactly what had happened for it to become like that. The way that Dream had blown up a single piece of TNT, setting off a massive chain in the process. At least, that's how it had happened in game. He had no idea how it had happened here. There was no way the Dream would have been able to pull off the same stunt here without months of preparation. After all, he would have had to place all of the explosives by hand, and there was no way Wilbur would have let him do that… 

Unless Eret had helped him. He scowls. Of course Eret had helped him, it only made sense. He wondered how Eret’s betrayal had played out in this world. After all, in-game they had all died. But here, everyone was clearly still alive. And based on how scared they were for him, death was permanent. 

A voice cuts through his thoughts “Tommy? What are you doing up there?” Tubbo stands on the ground, staring up at his friend “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” 

Tommy looked down at his friend, not very far below him. In an act of recklessness, he sheathed his sword and jumped down to the ground. The impact sent a slight shock running up his legs and spine, causing the scar from his wound to throb slightly, but other than that he felt no pain from it. 

“I got bored,” he told Tubbo, shrugging it off and trying to look casual. Unfortunately, the side effects of the health potions still hadn’t worn off, causing him to stumble slightly. 

Tubbo looked at him in shock and disbelief “did you just… are you ok?!” he quickly reached his arms out to catch his friend “Tommy?!” 

Tommy brushed off the concern, straightening and brushing himself off “I’m alright. Like I said, I got bored” His words were slurred ever so slightly, likely another side effect of the potion. He prayed that  
Tubbo wouldn’t notice

Tubbo noticed. “Tommy, you didn’t do what I think you did, right?”

“Depends on what you think I did”

“So if I went and checked on the potions drawer in the van, they would all still be there?” Tubbo knew exactly what was going on. His friend had pulled this stunt before, when he had broken his arm trying to help construct the L’manberg wall. 

Tommy’s eyes widened “Uhhh, why would you do that? There’s nothing wrong with them I swear!” 

Tubbo rolled his eyes “Uh huh. You’re so lucky I made spares. Wilbur would kill you if he found out you drank the entire supply,” he said, pulling a handful of vials from one of the pouches around his waist. Tommy figured it was the equivalent of everyone’s inventory, considering how nearly everyone had them. “Here I thought you had sworn never to do it again, especially after what happened last time” 

“Last time…?” 

His friend looked at him with confusion and worry. It was a look that Tommy was quickly getting used to, and quickly growing to hate. “Yeah, when we were building the wall? Remember?”

A fake smile formed on Tommy’s face “O-oh yeah! Yeah, I totally remember that. Psh, I was just testing you!” he chuckled nervously.

Tubbo’s brow furrowed. He wasn’t buying any of the crap Tommy was saying, but he also didn’t know how much he should press for an answer. His friend was clearly having a hard time, and he didn’t  
want to make it worse. But he also hated just sitting back and watching. 

“Tommy, you know you can trust me, right? I won’t tell any of the others, I promise.” 

“Yeah… I know. I just, I’ve got a lot on my mind and I don’t want to worry anyone” 

“Well now I’m concerned” he said with a chuckle “Whats up?” 

Tommy leaned against the wall of the broken van and slowly slid down to the ground. “I… I think something happened to my memory…” he says. It was the easiest explanation as to what was happening  
to him. He highly doubted that Tubbo was going to believe that he came from a world where all this was just a video game, nothing more. Better to tell a concerning lie than a panic inducing truth. 

“You… What? What do you mean?” His best friend sat on the scorched dirt next to him. “Like, you don’t remember anything?”

“No… It’s more like…” he was silent for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to describe it without causing his friend to freak out “I remember the general information, but none of the specifics.  
Does that make sense?” 

Tubbo nodded “Unfortunately, yeah it does. That’s really worrying. When did it start?” 

“When I woke up after my injury”

“So then it must have been caused during the duel. Maybe Dream had an enchanted arrow or something? But I’ve never heard of any enchantment that could affect memory like that…” his voice trailed off,  
a look of deep thought and calculation on his face

“What? N-no I’m sure it's not like that!” Tommy said hastily. The last thing he needed was Tubbo to go and demand answers from Dream, when he knew perfectly well that the arrow that Dream had used had nothing to do with it. “I don’t really care how it happened. I just need you to tell me things I may not remember”

“Are you sure? If Dream caused this then he might know how to fix it.”

Tommy was shaking his head vigorously “I’m sure, I swear. Just please help me out here, ok?” 

Tubbo still looked extremely concerned, but he chose to put his worries aside. The thing he needed to do right then was help his friend. “Alright, I can do that. What do you need to know?”

~~~

It had been nearly a week since Dream and Tommy had gone missing, and everyone was getting more scared by the second. Wilbur sat at his desk, watching the clip where he was counting down for what  
felt like the thousandth time. He had narrowed down exactly when the two of them had gone dark. 

As soon as he had said “fire!”, their minecraft characters had stopped moving. They had both gone completely silent. It took roughly a minute before viewers started pouring in from both streams,  
reporting that both Dream’s and Tommy’s streams had gone offline. Wilbur had initially thought it was just a stupid prank. Nothing more than a harmless joke. That was before everyone reported radio silence from both of them. Neither were answering their phones, but they were both still in the discord call. They hadn’t gone on mute, so Will could still hear background noises coming from Tommy’s house. Everyone else had quickly ended their streams, telling the viewers that it was just a prank. In reality, they wanted to find their friends without the eyes of the world on them.

A week had passed, and the police had still found nothing. No sign of either of them. No sign of either of them even leaving their rooms. None of it made sense. All that Wilbur knew was that his friends were out there, and they needed to be found.


	4. Chapter 4

Wilbur paced around his base, book and quill in hand, quickly and nervously scribbling. Words looking more jumbled and rushed by the second. Tear stains quickly brushed off. At least he knew Tommy was okay. If he didn’t have to make a peace treaty, he’d stab that green bastard through the heart. Tommy was already bleeding and Dream tried to finish him off. His hands were shaking with rage, he had to put the book down. Sitting down and running his hand through his hair, he tried to calm himself. He tried thinking of something hopeful, something that he could look forward to. He couldn’t. L’manberg had surrendered, his friends in shambles, trying to pick up the pieces of a better time. 

He looked outside, it was about four in the morning. He saw the black, broken walls of L’manburg. Looking slightly to the left, he saw the burnt wooden gate. Beyond that, he saw… him. Dream was pacing around the town, as if seeing it for the first time. His movements were sluggish and tired, clearly he hadn't had any sleep. 

Wilbur, immediately heading outside, confronted the masked man. “What are you doing?” 

Dream quickly turned around, stunned. “Oh- uh- Wilbur! I- I was just looking around. I’ll just head back if you need me to-”

Wilbur quickly raised an eyebrow at Dream’s odd behavior. “Just- what do you want?”

“Wil, I- look, I’m sorry for shooting Tommy.” Dream looked down, as if regretful for his actions. 

Wilbur’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re sorry?” Anger quickly replaced his surprise. “You’re sorry?! You almost fucking killed him! He’s sixteen, Dream. You agreed to his- his stupid challenge! I swear to god-”

“Yes! I did! I fucking did! You- You think I wanted to-” Dream sighed. “You don’t understand.”

Wilbur looked at Dream once more, noticing the crack in his mask that was exposing his left eye. The crack looked like it was broken by a sword. Did he break it himself? Why would he break his own mask? Then, he noticed his red, puffy eyes. His tired behavior. Dream truly regretted his actions. What happened to cause his sudden change of heart?

“I’ll- I’ll just go,” Dream muttered quietly. He took one last look at the man that had once been his friend. It was the first time he had really taken a good look at Wilbur. He was no longer the same happy and cheerful man that he had once been. This wasn’t the man who had cracked jokes in the middle of fighting. This was a man who had been beaten down by the weight of war. A man who had seen one of his best friends get shot in the chest. He was in no shape to listen to the pleas of the one who had caused so much pain and suffering.

Dream had heard stories of war before. Stories of how the Generals in the Civil war had been forced to march soldiers to their deaths, unable to do anything. Stories about the horrors of trench warfare. He had never put much thought into those stories before. After all, he lived in a peaceful time. A time where he could go outside without fearing for his life. Why bother learning about the pains of his ancestors? 

However, Wilbur’s eyes made all of those stories feel so much more personal. The eyes of a broken man. One who had given up all hope. One who could see no way out. 

Dream could feel tears starting to well up in his eyes as he walked off. Wilbur was in no shape to listen, much less accept his apology. 

Sighing, Dream headed back to his base, looking once more at the dreaded bow that had almost taken Tommy’s life. He picked it up and snapped it in half, he can’t bear to look at it anymore. He took off his mask, slashing it with his sword again, splitting it in half. He took his sword and stabbed the wooden floor of his base, leaving it stuck in the wood. He didn’t bother yanking it back out. He threw everything he could on the ground, breaking every fragile object in sight. He took his pickaxe and threw it at the window, shattering it. 

This wasn’t his home. This isn’t supposed to be his life. Maybe hearing the glass break could bring him back to his reality, but it didn’t. He was stuck in a war, in a world he himself created. Dream wished he never made the server, never agreed to the war, never agreed to the duel. 

He fell to his knees, clutching his sides, as sobs overtook him.

~~~

George woke up early. He put his glasses on and immediately started the day. He went outside, going to Dream’s base. Squinting, he saw what looked like broken glass. Oh no. What happened? Did someone break in? Did someone try to kill Dream? 

Rushing over to the disheveled base and heading inside, he saw broken things everywhere. Broken potions, swords, axes. The broken bow did not catch his eye, however, the mask did. Split in two, the mask was slashed diagonally across with a netherite sword, which was on the wooden floor next to it. Dream was asleep on the other side of the room, on two half slabs. He hadn’t even bothered dragging himself into bed. 

George went over to him, shaking him so he would wake up. “Dream, what the hell?”

“Hmmphh… gimme five minutes, George.”

“There is no time for five minutes! Why did you do this?”

Dream shot up immediately. “Why’d I do wha- Oh.”

“Well?” George helped him up.

“I… was overwhelmed?” Dream sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ll clean this up.” Dream stood up, turning away from George.

“Dream, this- this isn’t what I’m worried about. I’m worried about you.”

“Me? Wh- Why would you worry about me?” Dream said, laughing nervously.

“You’ve been acting weird ever since the duel! Dream, if something’s going on, you can tell me.”

In reality, Dream couldn’t tell George what was going on. Would he even believe him if he said he was from some alternate reality where this was all just some video game? He fidgeted with the sleeve of his jacket, trying to come up with a lie. 

“I… I’m not feeling that well. Maybe it was the poison potion before the duel?” He said.

George’s eyes widened in shock. “You drank a poison pot before the duel?!”

Dream looked a bit confused, but nodded anyways. That had happened, right? Both him and Tommy had used a splash potion of poison to get to half a heart so the winner would be clear.

His friend looked genuinely shocked at Dream’s actions, as well as a bit angry. “What the hell Dream?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? If Tommy had given you even a small cut you would have bled out and died! You know that we don’t have any way of curing that!” 

Dream bit back a curse. Of course they hadn’t used any poison. In game guaranteeing death was essential to that style of duel. However, in a real situation, it was just idiotic. It would be like sending a military into battle without bullet proof armor. 

But that was his story now, and trying to back peddle would only look more suspicious. And so he just shrugged, trying to look at least a little remorseful. “Sorry… Guess I got over confident.” It wasn’t unbelievable. After all, he was known in the minecraft community for being skilled at the game. 

George however, didn’t look convinced. “Thats a stupid reason to put your life in danger. I don’t care how skilled you are. What if Tommy had gotten lucky? You would have died, no questions asked,” he chided, his gaze filled with fear and concern. 

Dream felt a twinge of guilt. He hated making his friend worry like this. But he didn’t know what else to do. Better for George to think he was an idiot then to think he was insane. “Look, what's done is done. I’m still alive aren’t I?” 

George let out a sigh of resignation “I suppose… But only because you got lucky.” He ran a hand through his hair, staring at the mess surrounding him. He figured it was as good of a topic change as any. “What did you even do? Why is everything… destroyed?”

Dream looked around at the mess he had created. Sure enough, everything was completely and totally destroyed. Glass bottles lay shattered on the floor. Chests were overturned, with resources scattered everywhere. An axe head lay next to the window, its handle nowhere to be seen. In other words, the room looked like a complete and total dump.  
“I couldn’t sleep… Again, I haven’t been feeling good” 

The other man stepped over to where the splintered remains of the bow lay. He kneeled next to them, before looking up at his friend. He still wasn’t quite used to seeing him without a mask on…

“Dream, isn’t this your maxed out bow?”

Dream stared at the splintered wood on the floor. Sure enough, the faint purple shine of runes still remained on the broken pieces. Enchantment. Oh well, it didn’t matter to him what bow it was. All that mattered was that it had released the deadly shot. The one that had nearly killed an innocent boy. 

“Is it…?” he mutters. 

“I thought you spent hours trying to get the experience needed for that bow. Why would you destroy it?” 

“I told you. I’ve been stressed.” 

“Stressed enough to undo countless hours of hard work? That doesn’t seem like something you would do”

He only shrugged in response 

“Are you sure you don’t need anything? What if we… What if we went and spared for a bit?” George asked, his eye landing on the netherite sword embedded into the ground. “I know that helps you out. Besides, I’ve been practicing! Today might be the day I finally beat you!” 

Dream forced a smile onto his face. Pvp… He was supposed to be good at that, wasn’t he? After all, he knew every exploit of the game. He was the world record holder for the fastest speed run time. He knew how to PVP. So then why did he feel such a heavy sense of dread? 

“Yeah, alright. That sounds good” 

“Great! I’ll go get the practice swords. You go wait outside at the normal spot” George rushed out of the small base, clearly trying his best to raise his friends spirits. 

Dream stepped over to the netherite sword embedded in the ground and pulled it out. He held it in his hand for a second, staring at the glowing runes that were ingrained into the blade. It felt… natural in his hand. The blade felt balanced, and the handle fit perfectly in his hands. It was as if it was made for him. To be honest, it probably had been. Or at least, the him that had existed before he had shown up. The one that actually lived here. The one that wasn’t an imposter… 

He did a single swing of the sword, trying to see how it felt. He poured all of his anger and frustration into the swing. He almost immediately lost his balance and fell. 

“Shit…” he muttered. This wasn’t going to go well.


	5. Chapter 5

Tommy stared out the window of his small wooden shack. He had been relocated from the broken down van to a new, hastily put together room in the corner of L’manberg. Everyone had figured that the van was due to collapse at any second, and they didn’t exactly want the teenager in there when it did. After all, it wasn’t like he could just go back to his own base. That was directly in the middle of the Dream SMP. Going back there would be like signing a death warrant. 

He understood his friends thought process, he really did. But just because he understood it didn’t mean he was happy about it. Ever since he arrived in this strange world, the broken down van had been his home away from home. He knew that just being in it was dangerous, but that didn’t really matter. It was important to him. He was just glad they hadn’t forced him to stay in the underground bunker with everyone else. 

He sighed as he stared up at the night sky. What time was it now anyways. 2am? Maybe 3? Didn’t really matter either way. His mind was too full for sleep. He kept thinking about his home. His real home. He thought about his family and friends. He thought about his dogs, his favorite foods. How long had it been since he last slept in his own bed? Since he had eaten something that wasn’t just bread and steak? 

A tear slid down his face. He wanted to go home… But he had no idea how he had even gotten to this world, much less how to get out. Hell, there wasn’t even anyone who he could talk to about it. Unless…

A thought crossed his mind. He recalled how Dream had acted during the duel, in the seconds before he had lost consciousness. He had screamed and ran over to his side, as if trying to check on him. It was something that didn’t match up with the stories tubbo had told him. Whenever Tubbo had brought up Dream, his eyes filled with genuine anger and hatred. He spoke of a ruthless man who had destroyed their lives. A man who wasted no time in attempting to blow them all up. A man who had laid down explosives just to prove a point. It was a story that just hadn’t made sense to Tommy. 

Dream was a nice guy, and a friend. Sure he would tease and poke fun, but that didn’t change the fact that he meant well. It also didn’t make sense with what he had seen. After the duel, Tommy hadn’t seen Dream at all. If the stories Tubbo told were true, then it would have made sense for him to attack while he was unconscious or wounded. 

Maybe… Maybe Dream was connected to what was happening to him? He knew that it was a stretch, but at this point he had no other leads. He just wanted to figure out what was going on and how he could leave. 

He scanned the dark L’manberg property. Empty. Not a single torch or lantern was lit. Which meant… it was clear for him to make a run for it. He knew for a fact that none of his friends would support him going to visit the enemy. If they had any idea what he was trying to do, they would lock him inside the wooden shack until the nether froze over.

Quietly, he slipped out into the warm summer night. As quietly as he could, Tommy crept across the terrain to a small hole in the wall. He couldn’t go out the main entrance, it was completely caved in from the explosion. Trying to climb it would only end poorly. 

He was nearly out of the L’manberg property when a voice cut through the silent night air. “Tommy? Where are you going?”

The teenager swore under his breath. Of course Wilbur was out here. He had even said earlier that he was going to try to keep watch. Tommy turned to where the voice had come from, and nearly shrieked. In the pale moonlight, Wilbur looked like a monster straight out of a story book. His eyes were blood-shot and puffy. Pale, almost translucent looking skin was stretched across his face. His cheeks were sunken in , giving him a ghostly appearance. 

Tommy stepped closer to the older man, now feeling concerned more than anything “I was just… going for a walk…” he said, trying to make the lie sound convincing. 

Wilbur scoffed. “At 2 in the morning? I thought you were supposed to be resting.” he raised an eyebrow 

“I um… got better?” he responded, running his hand through his hair, “and I just wanted to go look around a bit… I’ve been inside for the past week.” he chuckles nervously

“Chugging 5 health potions if not enough to be considered ‘better,’ Tommy. I thought you already learned your lesson.” He made air quotes with his fingers to send his message across.

Tommy’s eyes widened “how did you…” his voice trailed off

His friend laughed at his confusion. “I saw you on the roof of the van earlier. No way would you have been able to make it up there if you were still injured. A quick check on our potion supply was all it took to confirm my suspicions.” 

“W-well then you should know that I’m perfectly capable of going on there on my own! I’m healed up now!” 

“Tommy, I don’t care how healed you are. You aren’t going out there on your own. Understood?”

Tommy’s jaw dropped open “What? Why the fuck not?”

“Because it's dangerous! Who knows what could happen to you if you went out there. Dream already tried to kill you once, who's to say that it won't happen again?” 

“I can take care of myself! I’m not going to do anything stupid” 

“Do you really expect me to believe that? You literally challenged Dream to a fucking duel while we tried negotiating peace treaties. If that isn’t idiotic then I don’t know what is.”

Tommy took a deep breath. Of course Wilbur didn’t trust him to go out on his own. Pretty much every other choice he had made was rash and dumb. Even if it had been mostly for the sake of entertainment in the real world, that wasn’t the case in this world. He was just a brash teenager here. “Will, I’ll be fine. I promise. I just need a chance to go and clear my head. We both know that I won’t get a chance to during the day.” 

Wilbur closed his eyes, considering Tommy’s offer. He did understand where he was coming from. The L’manberg territory wasn’t that big, and it could feel suffocating at times. Besides, he needed to trust his second in command, didn’t he? “Fine. But I expect you to be back by dawn. And I want you to come back and report to me immediately if you see anything suspicious. Understood?” 

He nodded, releasing a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding. “Of course,” he said, taking a step towards the hold in the wall. “Go get some rest Wilbur. You look terrible” 

He shook his head “I’m fine. I just need to keep everyone safe”

“You can’t keep people safe if you’re passed out. Go rest. I’ll wake you up if I see anything.” 

“... Fine. Just be careful” Wilbur stood and walked away from the tree he was sitting against. Tommy stared at his friend’s retreating figure for a moment, before walking out into the crisp summer night. 

As soon as he knew Tommy had left, Wilbur turned and rushed towards the hole in the wall. Like hell was he going to let Tommy go off on his own. The kid was going to do something stupid with no one to back him up. Will wasn’t going to let that happen.

~~~

Dream stood in the training grounds above his home. With a wooden training sword in his hand, he attempted to practice some of the techniques that George had used earlier that day. God, why was he so fucking useless? 

24 seconds. That was how long the longest bout had lasted. 24 seconds before Dream surrendered. It had taken George 4 different bouts before he had called it a day. Dream had refused. He begged his friend to teach him how to use the sword, making up some bull shit excuse about the lingering effects from the poison to justify it. He wanted to learn how to fight. After all, he was apparently the best at combat in the smp. It made sense. After all, he was a world record holder. So why on earth was he so useless?!

“Because its not a fucking game anymore,” he said out loud, frustration seeping into his voice. He was glad no one was around to hear him, or to see him stumbling around with the practice sword. 

“Here I thought you were supposed to be good at PVP,” said a voice behind him. Tommy's voice… Dream whirled around, still holding the sword. 

On one hand, he felt a rush of relief at the words. Tommy had survived. He was ok. But on the other, he was still the second in command of L’manberg. For all Dream knew, Tommy could have been sent to assassinate him. It was a theory that was only made more likely when he considered his failure from earlier that day. Wilbur had somehow heard about how weak and pathetic he had become, and sent Tommy to kill him while he couldn’t fight back. 

Dream locked eyes with his friend. Tommy stood at the opposite side of the small training grounds, watching Dream practice. The teenager stepped onto the wooden floor and picked up one of the practice swords. He held it in his hand for a moment, before making a couple swings and stabs. He may not have fallen over, but he still looked like a dork. 

Tommy let out a laugh, “This is so cool. This is so fucking cool!” he spun and pointed the sword at Dream. His face had a massive grin on it, making him look like a little kid. “Come at me bitch boy, I’ve got a knife! What are you gonna do about it!” 

Dream raised an eyebrow. Tommy was acting as if he had never held a sword in his life. But that didn’t make sense. In this world, sword fighting seemed to be rather common. And Tommy had been rather skilled at minecraft PVP. That should have translated to his combat abilities in this world. So why was he acting like a 5 year old? “You act like you’ve never held a sword before,” Dream said. 

Tommy stared at Dream, trying to gauge his reaction. He tried to figure out the best response. He had heard Dream muttering about it not being a game anymore, but that wasn’t nearly enough to risk revealing himself. So instead he pushed just a little more. “Says the one flailing around like a headless chicken. Aren’t you supposed to be the Minecraft god? Or are you just bad?”

Dream froze. No one had even mentioned the word Minecraft since he had arrived here. Whenever he tried bringing it up in conversation, his friends had just looked at him like he was crazy. But here Tommy was just saying it like it was nothing. “How do you-” he began to ask, but was cut off by the sound of metal. 

Tommy’s eyes narrowed. Dream knew something. And he wasn’t sharing. In a single motion, he drew his netherite sword and pointed it at Dream’s throat. He took a deep breath, trying to keep his hand from trembling. Dream dropped his practice sword and raised his hands in the air. Tommy was seething with anger. “I fucking knew it! You stupid son of a bitch I knew you had something to do with this! What did you do to me?! Where am I?! Why can’t I go home?!”

“I-”

“What are you planning Dream? What are you trying to get out of this?” He growled. 

“I don’t know!” Dream said desperately “I don’t know what's going on!” 

“Bullshit! You’re the only one who’s even remotely reacted to something from the real world. You must know something!” 

“Tommy I just want to go home!” Dream shouts “I don’t fucking belong here! Don’t you think if I knew how to leave, I would?!” 

“Give me one good reason why I should believe you,” he said, stepping forward slightly so that the tip of the blade rested against Dream’s throat. 

“Because you’re my friend!” he yelled. “If I knew how to help you, or what to do, then I would!”

Tommy considered Dream’s words. He had a point… the two of them were friends, weren’t they? Tommy should at least give him the courtesy of listening to his side of the story before jumping to any conclusions. Dream’s appearance only solidified his decision. His eyes were red and swollen from lack of sleep. He looked like he was in a similar condition to Wilbur. Except instead of stress and worry, Dream’s declining health was due to frustration and fear. 

He lowered the blade to his side and stepped back. “Fine. I’ll believe you for now.” He looked down at his hand “When were you brought here?” 

Dream let out a breath of relief. He knew that if Tommy had really wanted to, he could have run him through, no questions asked. And Dream didn’t even know how to defend himself. “About a week ago I think? It was during the bow duel…” 

Tommy nodded. “Same. All I remember was being on the computer, and then suddenly I held a bow and had an arrow through my chest.”

Dream winced “Are you ok now at least? I’ve been really scared that I actually killed you…” 

“Fine. I drank a couple health pots earlier today, so at least my wound is healed. It’s been more boring than anything else” he was silent for a moment, thinking. “Dream… How much do you know about the war?” 

“Um, wasn’t it pretty much the same as it was in game?” 

Tommy shook his head “No. According to Tubbo, it was so much worse here… Apparently the war has been going on for over half a year now. I guess the only reason everyone lasted so long was because they were constantly downing health and regen pots. But even so, I guess it was a bloodbath…” his voice trailed off, remembering the pained and weary expression on Tubbo’s face when he had talked about it. 

“Are you serious…?” 

“Yeah. Everyone back in L’manberg is terrified of you. They all despise you for what you’ve done to them. I guess the other you was a ruthless monster…” 

The concerned look on Dream's face only grew more and more as Tommy continued talking. The two of them stood in silence once Tommy had finished. After a couple minutes of thinking, he finally spoke. “Tomorrow, I’ll be calling a council to negotiate a peace treaty. I’m going to put an end to this war, once and for all.”

Tommy nodded “that sounds… good. It’ll be nice to not have everyone look so fucking scared all the time” He glanced up at the moon in the sky. “I need to be heading back. Will is gonna be worried if I’m not back soon.”

“Oh yeah, isn’t it past your bedtime?” he asked with a chuckle

A smile broke out onto Tommys face “I’ll have you know, I am far too old and mature for bedtimes.” 

“Right. I’m sure that everyone would agree with that” 

“Oh they most definitely would. After all, I’m the second in command to Wilbur! It takes a lot of maturity to do that.” 

“Uh huh. Get going you freaking child” 

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of your stupidity!” Tommy called out as he walked away from Dream and back to L’manberg. For the first time since he had woken up, he felt actually hopeful. Hopeful that he would find a way home. Hopeful that maybe things would turn out ok. He grinned to himself as he jogged down the wooden path, mostly just grateful that he was no longer all alone.

~~~

Wilbur paced in his small room, trying to figure out what to do. The conversation between Tommy and Dream echoed in his mind. At first, he had been following Tommy to protect him and make sure he didn’t do anything rash. He had very nearly revealed himself to the teenager when he had approached the training grounds. But then he had heard him start to speak.

Tommy may have baited and attacked Dream at first, but then Dream had claimed to be a friend. Wilbur wasn’t sure what bothered him more. The fact that Dream was claiming to be an ally, or the fact that those words had caused Tommy to spare him. Just last week, Tommy had sworn to kill Dream, no matter what. Why on earth had he suddenly changed his mind? 

Unless… Unless it was all an act. An act to get close to them, then stab them in the backs. No. No Tommy would never do that. There had to be some other explanation. Some other reasoning for his behavior. 

Wilbur hadn’t heard the conversation after Tommy had spared Dream. He knew that he should have stayed, but he couldn’t bear watching his friend betray him. Better to live in the dark. He would just have to keep an eye on him. Yeah. Keep an eye on him, and make sure that he didn’t do anything to hurt them. 

It would be fine. Everything would be fine.

~~~

“Look. If you’re here to ask about Tommy or Dream, then you can piss off. I came back to streaming for a break from all that,” Tubbo told his viewers. His eyes involuntarily drifted towards his other monitor, as they often did when he was thinking about his missing friends. His second monitor was where he had Discord open. Where Tommy and Dream still sat in the main voice channel, completely silent. Neither of their families had the heart to turn off their computers, so they just sat there, exactly as they were before they vanished. Tubbo liked to sit in the vc whenever he was streaming. Something about it was… comforting to him. He wasn’t sure why. 

His attention was drawn back to the stream chat by a donation. It was filled with questions about his missing friends.

He let out a groan of frustration. “All right, we’re going on sub only mode for a bit. I can’t deal with this shit right now. Thanks mods,” he told the chat, “I know, I know, I don’t like it either. But I just can’t deal with questions about them right now. Sorry guys.” 

That was when it happened. A rustling sound. A voice very quietly saying, “what the…” 

Tubbo frowned in confusion. “Can you guys hear that? Or is it just me?” he asked. 

That was when he heard it. Tommy's voice. Tommy’s voice coming in from the discord vc. All he said were two words. “Hello? Tubbo?” 

The stream went offline.


	6. Chapter 6

Fundy was told long ago that eyes could show raw emotion, and as Fundy looked at his adoptive father’s eyes, he saw melancholy. A long, drawn out sadness. An old wound that continued bleeding. He saw the eyes glance towards Tommy for a split second, it was too quick to read yet he felt… caution- no, desperation. But for what? Tommy had survived the arrow, what could’ve happened to cause this? He felt a tinge of cautiousness, but why? Why would he need to be careful?

Wilbur’s mannerisms were a different story. He stood tall and confident, taking strong strides toward the building where the peace treaty would be held. He held his head up high, even if his friends could not. Wilbur was appointed leader just two days after L’manburg started it’s revolution. It was obvious why. 

It was like Wilbur had a mask, not like the one Dream always wore. He had to hide weakness, to hide his failures, his insecurities. To hide what Dream could exploit. 

“Hey, Dad? Something bothering you?” Fundy asked, expecting Wilbur to avoid the question like normal.

“Hm? Oh… well, maybe.” Wilbur shrugged, trying to brush it off.

“Care to tell me?” Fundy asked.

Will’s eyes changed to pity. What was so sullen that even Wilbur could not tell him? His own son? Fundy couldn’t help but feel a surge of annoyance. 

“You should take a seat, Fundy.” Wilbur said, gesturing to the chair next to him. Fundy didn’t realize they were already there.

“Oh, alright.” Fundy replied, taking a seat. His ears immediately picked up the infamous footsteps of Dream approaching from the other side of the table, the footsteps that he had grown to long for. The same footsteps that had caused pain and carnage, but at the same time, joy and freedom. Fundy fidgeted, anxiously drumming his fingers on the table, and kept his mouth shut. 

“I officially call this meeting to start. I, Wilbur Soot, have written this Declaration of Peace for each of the members present to sign.” He first signed the declaration himself then passed it to Fundy.

Fundy’s hand held the quill shakily. All their efforts of the past month, signed away. Fundy knew that the idea shouldn’t have excited him, not if he was a true citizen of L’Manberg, but he couldn’t help the flutter in his chest. Good, he thought. Perhaps now they could finally rest. With a flick of a pen and a determined nod, they had wiped away all those efforts. He passed the book along to Tommy.

Tommy signed. Tubbo signed. Eret signed. Sapnap signed. George signed. Dream… took a deep breath and stood up.

“Dream, what are you-” Sapnap started.

“I won’t be signing it,” Dream said. “I’m giving you independence.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Dream, what the hell?! What are you doing?!” Sapnap yelled. A cacophony of voices yelled with him, from each side. Screams of “What?!” “Dream!” and “What the fuck?!” were heard.

“Alright. Alright. Settle down,” Wilbur commanded. “Dream… I’ll need to have a word with you in private. Outside.”

Dream nodded and followed Wilbur to the doorway. Tommy immediately stood up to follow Will. 

Wilbur first glared at Tommy but then decided to let him follow. He sighed. “Dream, would you want him to listen in too?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“...Alright.”

~~~

Wilbur, Tommy and Dream headed outside of the building, out of earshot. They stepped into the warm summer sun, a new beginning, a new future. Still, the past is yet to be forgiven. There are still things Wilbur does not have the answers to, answers that could’ve changed the entire course of history. Wilbur still couldn’t wrap his head around Tommy and Dream’s conversation, on why Tommy spared that bastard’s life. He had the upper hand. Dream was weak and yet he still spared his life. He spared the life of a monster, a cold-blooded killer. 

“Why?” Wilbur asked Dream. “Why-- when we were about to surrender-- you granted our independence?”

“I saw the blood and carnage we had caused… and I- I wanted to spare us from any more.” 

Dream was lying. “We all signed the peace treaty, we were willing to surrender-”

Tommy cut off Wilbur. “Will, this isn’t something sinister, okay? I’m sure there’s a good expl-”

“Tommy,” Wilbur said forcefully. “I know something has been going on behind the scenes. Why are you two lying about it?” 

The younger boy froze. His eyes darted to Dream, trying to figure out what to say. He was met with only an emotionless mask. God, he hated that mask. It made it impossible to figure out what Dream was thinking or feeling. Which was, he thought, probably the point. “Wilbur, I don’t know what you’re talking about”

Dream on the other hand, was freaking the fuck out. He made a promise to himself to thank Sapnap later for repairing the porcelain mask, if only because it made it so that Wilbur couldn’t see his panicked expression. He forced his voice to become steady and calm. After all, if those around him couldn’t see his face, then his voice would be the only indication as to what he was feeling. “Wilbur, I can promise you, there is nothing sinister behind my actions. No one else knew that I was planning this. The reactions of George and Sapnap should confirm that.”

“I don’t care about that! All I care about is the fact that you’ve both been hiding something from me! I mean, It makes sense for Dream, but I don’t understand why you’ve been lying to me, Tommy.” 

Tommy flinched, hating how he was forced to lie to one of his best friends. “Wilbur, I can assure you, I haven’t been hiding anything from you.”

Wilbur pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been hoping that Tommy would just come clean and admit to it. It would have made everything so much easier. But no, of course he had to continue lying. But… Dream had surrendered. He had given them independence. Had Tommy done this? Is that what had happened? He shook his head. No. He couldn’t jump to conclusions yet. He still didn’t know the full story. He needed to continue trusting his second in command. He must have had a reason, right? 

Dream’s words finally sunk in. George and Sapnap hadn’t known about his plan… Why would he not tell them about it? Fear? No, that didn’t make sense. Wilbur stared at the masked man. “You said that your officers had no idea what you planned to do today. Why would you not inform them?”

Dream attempted to casually shrug “I knew that they wouldn’t agree. If they didn’t know beforehand that they wouldn’t have a chance to stop me.”

“If you knew that they were going to try and stop you, why the hell did you do it in the first place?” 

“I already told you. I’m sick and tired of watching people get hurt. I feel like granting independence was the least I could do. If you don’t want it, then you can leave. But just know. If you do decide to surrender, the terms of the resulting treaty will not be kind.”

Wilbur stood there silently, weighing his options. On one hand, he could take Dream's offer and potentially walk into a trap. One set up by his own right hand man. But on the other, he could admit defeat and surrender, throwing away his and everyone else's hard work in an instant. He nodded. “Fine. We accept your offer. Do you have a document declaring your surrender?” 

Dream nodded. From one of the pouches around his waist, he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper, tied together with a piece of string. It looked like an ancient scroll. “It has yet to be signed. I wanted there to be witnesses around for when I did.”

“Well then. After you,” Wilbur said, holding out his arm to gesture for Dream to leave first. “I’ve got a few things I need to say to my right hand man.” 

Tommy stood still, waiting for the moment when Wilbur would turn on him. Waiting for the moment that he would be shouted at. Instead, Wilbur just looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Tommy. I want to make it very clear that I am choosing to trust you right now. I don’t know what is going on, or what you think you’re doing, but just know this. I will not allow what happened with Eret to happen again. Understood?” Wilbur’s hand reached up and touched the side of his neck, where a small, red scar was still visible. 

Tommy understood why. According to Tubbo, Eret had lured them all into a small bunker underground, much like he had in game. But instead of killing them all, he had drugged them with small iron needles, dipped in super concentrated slowness. The potion had caused them all to collapse, making it easy for Eret and Dream to loot them for all they had. Dream had made a point of keeping them all conscious. He had wanted them to see exactly who it was that had betrayed their trust. He had stood there, mocking them, and they could do nothing but watch. 

Tommy understood Wilbur’s fear. He nodded meekly. “Of course. I will not let you down Sir.” 

~~~

Tubbo sat in the passenger seat of Wilbur’s car, staring out the window as familiar scenery rushed past. 

A day had passed since Tommy had reappeared during Tubbo’s stream. The stream had ended abruptly, without any explanation as to why or what was going on. Not like anyone really knew, but he hadn’t wanted to have people watching him as he tried to figure things out. 

As Tubbo stared out the window, he remembered the last time him and Wilbur had taken this exact same path, not even a week prior. They had been asked by Tommy’s parents to come and visit, to try and see if they could talk with the police, or find anything new. After all, they had been some of the last few people to actually see their friend before he vanished. The car ride had been tense and silent, filled with an underlying terror and worry. 

Now, they were in an extremely similar situation. Tommy’s parents had once more asked Tubbo and Wilbur to come and visit, but this time it was because Tommy wouldn’t stop asking about them. It wasn’t normal, and his parents were getting worried. Now, the car was filled with a different type of tension. It may not have been as fearful, but it was still filled with concern and worry. 

“Do you think he’s ok?” Wilbur asked, his eyes trained on the road in front of him. 

“I don’t know… He was acting really weird when I spoke to him. He kept asking me where I was and what was going on…”

“Can you blame him? He just reappeared out of thin fucking air after being missing for a week.” 

“I suppose that's fair… Still…” His voice trailed off. “How much longer until we get there?” 

“Dunno. Another couple hours maybe?”

“Alright…”

~~~

Tubbo wasn’t sure how much time had passed. He had fallen asleep at some point during the drive. He had woken up to the sound of the car door opening. When he had opened his eyes, they were parked outside Tommy’s house. Wilbur was already walking up to the front door. Tubbo quickly un buckled and jumped out of the car, following his friend. 

Wilbur had approached the door, and his hand hovered over the doorbell. He was slightly scared to ring it. Yes, he was excited to see his friend again, but he was scared as to what had happened to him. He was scared that his stupid, brash, careless friend had changed. He didn’t know what had happened during the past week, and he was scared to ask. He took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. Every second that he waited felt like a lifetime. After what seemed to be an eternity, the door opened. 

Before Wilbur had even gotten a chance to react, Tubbo rushed past him and tackled his friend in a hug. “Tommy!!! Oh thank god you’re actually ok!!”

As soon as Tommy saw his friend rushing towards him, he swung his fist. A punch connected with Tubbo’s jaw, sending him to the ground. His eyes were filled with a wild, animalistic fear. However, the expression faded into concern as soon as he realized what it was he had just done. “Tubbo! Christ I’m so sorry man, are you alright?” he asked, kneeling next to his friend to check on him. 

Tubbo let out a cough, but pushed himself up anyways. The side of his face was red, already starting to swell, but it didn’t do anything to dampen the bright grin on his face. He was way too happy to see his friend again to care about a small thing like a swollen and bruised jaw. “Yeah, I’m perfectly fine! Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t even consider your reaction. Are you alright?” he asked, more concerned for the state of Tommy then his own injury. 

“I-I’m perfectly fine. I just… Are you sure you’re alright? Do you need a hea- um, do you need anything?” 

Tubbo stood up. “Tommy, I’m fine, promise. Uh, some ice would be good though. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Wilbur placed a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder “Tubbo, he’s probably still shaken up over whatever had happened to him. Give him a bit of space”

“Y-yeah… Thanks Will…” with a slight smile. But it felt… off. It was if someone had taken a part of what made Tommy who he was and crushed it underneath their foot. Like they had taken all of his eagerness, his excitement, everything that made him stand out, and thrown it away. There was no spark in Tommy’s eyes anymore. Just a cold, calculating gaze. 

A voice called out from inside the house “Tommy! Invite your friends inside!” 

“Yes mum! Why don’t you two come in. Theres… There's something I wanted to ask you.”

~~~

It wasn’t long before Wilbur and Tubbo were sitting outside in the backyard, a plate of snacks next to them. Tommy was walking around the small patio, seemingly fascinated with everything he saw. 

“Well? What is it you wanted to talk to us about?” Tubbo asked, breaking the silence as he held an ice pack to his swollen jaw. 

Tommy jumped, startled by the sudden noise. He quickly shrugged, trying to brush off his strange behavior. “Um, this is going to sound really weird, but I promise I have a good reason for it,” he started, “I need to contact Dream. Immediately.”


	7. Chapter 7

Dream stepped into the small building that had been dedicated to peace negotiations. It wasn’t much other than a single room with a long table, but the tension inside could have been cut with a knife. On one side of the table sat George, Sapnap, Punz, and Eret. All four were tense, ready to attack at any moment. It was completely different from the joking, playful atmosphere that has surrounded them that morning. Sapnap glared at the masked man as he entered the building, likely considering just how many different ways he could strangle him. Dream was once more thankful for the mask covering his face, as he turned away with a grimace. 

On the other side sat Tubbo and Fundy. The L’Manberg side of the table was filled with a very different atmosphere. They both wore expressions of very hesitant hope. Tubbo turned to Wilbur as he walked in, his eyes asking a silent question.

The older man gave a small nod, his face revealing nothing. A of disbelief spread over Tubbo’s face. “What's the catch?” he asked hesitantly, staring at the masked man for an answer. 

A very small smile formed on Dreams face, although it was hidden to the younger boy. He shrugged, saying, “None. The Dream SMP surrenders to L’Manberg.” 

The skeptic look on Tubbo’s face only increases. 

A low growl emerged from Sapnap's throat. “Dream, you can’t do this,” he hissed sharply.

Dream ignored him, pulling the document from his bag. He rolled it out on the table. On the top of the document, in big, bold letters, read “Treaty of Surrender.” Under that, the words “By signing this document, the Dream SMP hereby recognizes L’Manberg as its own, independent nation.” Below, in smaller print, was a list of different agreements. It wasn’t complex, mostly just outlining the basics of any peace treaty. But everyone knew what it meant. 

A quill sat in a small inkwell on the table. With a steady hand, Dream picked it up, and signed the paper. He had nearly started to sign his actual name, but had managed to catch himself last minute. Setting the quill down, he glanced at the men sitting at either side of him. “I require that at least one of my own men signs this treaty as a witness,” he declared, staring them each in the eye individually. 

The resulting silence was palpable. Not a single person stood, offering to sign the document. ‘They’re all too prideful. They don’t want to admit defeat,’ Dream thought as he looked at them. 

2 to 3 minutes passed in silence. Then, something surprising happened. Eret stood, staring at the paper with a furrowed brow. “I’m still becoming king, right?” he asked.

Dream noded. He had figured that Eret had been promised the position by the other Dream, so he had made sure to include it. “Of course.” 

“Then I will sign.” In a swift motion, Eret signed the document and tossed the quill onto the table in front of Wilbur. 

Dream sent his friend a relieved smile. “Thank you Eret. Now then. Wilbur, it is your turn to sign.” 

Wilbur quickly read over the terms of surrender and signed the document, Tommy signing as well as witness. 

The entire room seemed to hold its breath as the quill scratched against the paper. It felt like the entire world had let out a huge sigh of relief the moment Tommy picked the quill back up. Dream smiled and rolled up the document. “Well then. The treaty shall be kept in here for safe keeping. You guys are good to go if you want,” he said, trying his best to sound official and important sounding.

Apparently it worked. Tubbo stared at where the document had been sitting moments before. In a soft tone, he whispered, “we did it…” 

Wilbur placed a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder, and very quietly replied “Yeah. We did it”

~~~

Dream watched as Tommy, Wilbur, Fundy, and Tubbo all left the small building. He had been hoping to leave as well, but one look at the people around him told him that wasn’t going to be an option. He gulped nervously. 

The moment that the L’Manberg soldiers were out of view, Sapnap was on his feat, sword in hand. He stormed over to Dream, pinning him to the wall, blade across his neck. His face was twisted with anger and rage. “You son of a bitch what the hell was that about?! What the fuck were you thinking?!?!” 

“I have my reasons Sapnap,” Dream choked out. It was the second time in 24 hours that someone had held a sword to his neck, and it wasn’t a trend that he particularly enjoyed. Hopefully, it was a trend that wasn’t going to continue. 

“Bullshit! You swore to me that you were going to win this war! Not that you were going to fucking surrender!” He cried, pressing the blade into Dreams skin. Small beads of blood started to form where metal met skin. “We had them! We fucking had them and you went and threw it away like a coward!” 

“I didn’t realize that letting people live was such a crime Sapnap!” Dream shouted back. “I didn’t fucking realize that it was illegal to feel pity or sympathy!” 

His friend stared at him, before putting even more pressure against the blade. Dream was starting to panic slightly “I didn’t follow you to be lectured on granting mercy, Dream. I followed you because you swore you would win.” he took a step back, allowing Dream to fall to the ground at his feet.

Dream coughed several times, trying to recover from his windpipe being crushed. He pounded a fist to his chest, trying to clear his airway. When he looked up at Sapnap, he was greeted only with a kick to the chest, sending him sprawling across the floor. The mask, so carefully fixed by someone he had thought of as a friend, had flown across the room. Dream didn’t care. He wanted that mask gone. 

He lay there on the ground for a minute, trying to desperately catch his breath. “Wh-why…?” he asked, the words coming out as desperate gasps for air. 

“Heh. Never thought I would see the day when the great Dream lay at my feet, begging for mercy. Oh how the mighty have fallen,” Sapnap said with a chuckle. He turned towards the door. “I’m leaving. If you have any need of me again, you know where to find me. Just next time, I expect some actual fucking results.” 

George walked around the long table as Sapnap left, looking at his friend in concern. Eret and Punz had already left, leaving just the two of them. “I really hope you have a plan,” he said. His eyes were full of pity as he walked away, leaving the gasping man alone on the floor. 

~~~

“Dude, are you serious?” It was late at night, around midnight. Dream and Tommy were back at the training grounds, each trying to learn how to fight. Of course, they didn’t exactly have anyone to teach them, so they were both just practicing basic moves that Dream had seen George use. The results were… varied, to say the least.

As they spared, Dream had told Tommy what had happened earlier that day after the conference. “I mean, I knew Sapnap was a little bitch, but I didn’t realize he was that much of a dick here”

Dream shrugged. “He used to joke that he was like a mercenary, and only in it for the money. Guess that it’s less of a joke here.”

“I feel like anything that was jokingly on stream held some sliver of truth here. Including everyone’s personalities,” Tommy chuckled as he blocked a strike “that’s probably why no one trusts me here. I kinda acted like a complete idiot on stream”

“You still do.”

“Oh haha. At least I wasn’t a fucking psychopath”

Dream shook his head “I still don’t get why I was apparently so scary…”

“You literally sent us a voice clip saying that you would burn L’Manberg to the ground if we didn’t surrender”

Dream let out a sigh “yeah… Yeah I suppose I did” 

Sensing the sudden mood shift, Tommy quickly tried his best to change the subject. “So… What about George? Is he any different from back home?” 

“George is…” Dream’s voice trailed off as he thought, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. 

“George is no different from how he’s always been,” said the man in question as he stepped out of the shadows. For the third time that day, Dream found himself with the blade of a netherite sword against his throat. “Now then. Would either of you care to explain who the hell you are and what you’re doing here?” 

Tommy dropped his wooden training sword and raised his hands into the air, trying to look as harmless as possible. “George, how much… How much did you hear?” He asked, keeping his voice calm, despite the fact that he wanted to scream.

George shifted the blade so that it was now pointed at the teenagers throat, shutting him up rather quickly. “I heard enough to know that neither of you are who you say you are. What the fuck is going on?” 

Dream took a small step towards his friend, his hands up as well “Look, we’re still Tommy and Dream, I promise.” He knew that he couldn’t try to lie his way out of this one. To be honest, their best option was probably to tell the truth and hope George could keep his mouth shut. 

“Exactly!” Tommy chimed in, trying to be helpful. Dream glared at him. 

“Please. I’m not an idiot. I knew something was wrong from the moment you shot Tommy during the duel. The real Dream never would have taken off his mask, much less show any sort of regret,” George said, stepping forward so that his blade rested against Dream’s neck, in the exact same spot Sapnap had cut earlier.

“I’m still Dream, I swear! Just because I’m not fucking insane doesn’t mean I’m a different person!”

“Maybe, but the real Dream would know how to fight. He wouldn’t be flailing around with a sword like a chicken with its head cut off.”

Tommy snorted “He’s got you there. You do look really stupid.”

Dream made a choking sound in surprise “I- You look just as dumb!”

“Maybe, but at least I’m not supposed to be the world's greatest swordsman” 

“As a child, your opinion is automatically invalid”

“As a child, I automatically don’t give a shit.”

George’s eyes darted between the two, as if he were watching an intense tennis match. “Enough!” he finally yelled, shutting them both up pretty quickly. “All I want are some fucking answers!” He pressed his sword more against Dreams throat, opening the thin cut and allowing a small trickle of blood to form.

Dream gulped and looked at Tommy. Normally he would have taken control of the situation himself, but he didn’t exactly trust himself to not anger his friend. 

Tommy nodded, and started to explain their story. He told George how the two of them had suddenly been transported from their home to the SMP world. He explained how neither of them knew what was going on, or why they couldn’t leave. He even explained how back home, everyone had been friends. The war had been nothing more than a game, a show that they had put on for the sake of entertainment. As he spoke about his own home, he could feel tears start to pool up inside his eyes. He hastily tried to wipe them away, but it didn’t matter. George had already seen. 

The man lowered his sword, not once taking his eyes off either of them. “So you’re telling me that you come from a world where all of this,” he gestured around him towards the world as he spoke, “is completely fake.”

“Yeah, that sums it up pretty well,” Tommy replied, rubbing the red scar on his neck. It was a nervous habit that he had quickly picked up from Wilbur, despite the fact that he hadn’t even been there when he had received the scar. 

Dream stumbled back, using his jacket sleeve to try and stop the stream of blood from his neck. There was already a dark stain on the cuff from earlier that day. God, he was going to get a lasting scar if this continued. “We just want to get home,” He told George, “I promise, we don’t mean anyone any harm.”

George pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. “You both do realize how unbelievable this all sounds, right?”

“Yeah, we know” 

“I really don’t want to believe you… But this explains so much. Is that why you trashed your base?”

“I told you I was feeling stressed. I just may have failed to mention what exactly I was stressed about”

“I knew you weren’t feeling well… I just didn’t realize it was because of something like this. That's why neither of you know how to fight anymore, isn’t it?”

Tommy shrugged “Sword fighting isn’t exactly a common sport in our world. I’ve never even touched a real sword before this week.” 

“Oh my god… Does anyone else know?” George asked.

Dream looked over at Tommy, silently asking a question. Tommy shook his head “The only person who knows something is wrong is Tubbo, and he thinks I just have amnesia from a weird enchantment or something.” 

“Are you serious? I thought we agreed not to tell anyone!”

“This was before I even knew you were here! How else was I supposed to get any information? Besides, Tubbo’s my bro. I trust him not to tell anyone.” 

“What about Wilbur…? Does he know?” George asked, his brow furrowed in thought.

“Nope. I mean, he clearly knows that something is up, but other than that he has no idea.”

“That doesn’t seem right… Wilbur should know that his second in command is missing.”

Tommy cried out in outrage, “What do you mean? I’m right here!” 

“He means the other you. You know, the one that actually lived here?” Dream said calmly. 

“Exactly. That other Tommy is currently missing. Who knows where he could be. Wilbur deserves to know.” 

Tommy let out a groan of annoyance “ughhhh fine! I’ll tell him tomorrow. 10 bucks he isn’t going to believe me.”

“No way am I losing 10 bucks like that,” Dream replied. 

“Killjoy,” The teenager muttered. 

George was once more watching them both with confusion. He looked down at his feet, trying to weigh his options. That’s when he noticed the discarded training swords. An idea sprang into his head. “What if I tried to teach you both sword fighting? I’m not the best, but the other Dream taught me, and he was the best of the best.” 

Dream grimaced. Just another reminder that he was just an imposter. Still, he forced himself to nod. “That would be good. Thanks.”

~~~

“Please, I just want to go home…” Tommy said into the phone. It had taken a bit of work to convince Wilbur and Tubbo that he wasn’t insane and definitely knew what a phone was, but they had eventually caved. 

Wilbur hadn’t wanted to question his younger friend after who knows what had happened to him. It would have just stressed him out and made everyone more upset. So he had allowed Tommy to borrow his phone to call Dream. Now, he and Tubbo were sitting at the table in Tommy’s backyard, hearing only snippets of the one-sided conversation.

“What do you mean? Why not?! I won’t do anything I promise!” A couple seconds of silence. Tommy’s face went slack in shock. “You can’t be serious. No, no no no you’re joking, aren’t you. Y-you wouldn’t dare.” More silence. “Fine! I won’t, I swear! Just please don’t do it.” 

Wilbur watched the conversation with concern. He could hear Tommy’s raised voice from where he was sitting, and what he was hearing was definitely good cause for concern. He glanced at Tubbo, who looked just as worried. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I will. Bye.” A long, drawn out tone sounded from the speaker. Tommy sighed and walked back over to Wilbur and Tubbo, trying his best to hide his tears. It didn’t work.

Tubbo was instantly on alert, trying to check on his friend. “Hey man, are you ok?” He made sure not to get too close after getting hit in the jaw. 

“Y-yeah. Yeah I’m good. Just… just a bit in shock still. A lot has happened in the past week…”

“You want to talk about it?” Wilbur asked gently. 

Tommy shook his head violently “No. No I really don’t. Don’t worry guys, I’ll be fine. Thanks”


	8. Chapter 8

When Tommy woke up the next morning, every muscle in his body ached. God damn it, this was why he hated working out. Who the hell in their right mind actually enjoyed it? It was just fucking stupid. Sure, he was much stronger and healthier in the SMP world than he was at home, but the past week of not doing anything had taken a toll on him. He still didn’t understand how the other Tommy had gone through so much effort to work out. Maybe he actually had been a psychopath. 

“Ughhhhhh” he groaned, remembering his promise to George. It was too early to go and talk to Wilbur, much less tell him that he was from another fucking universe. From the look of things, it appeared to be around 10-11 in the morning. Whatever. It was still too early to deal with this. 

~~~

Ten minutes later, Tommy stood outside the entrance to a long, underground tunnel. He hadn’t actually had a chance to visit it yet, but he knew that at the end of the tunnel was a small, underground bunker that everyone had been living in for over a week now. He could remember digging out the tunnel the day before the big war stream. The day before he had been forced into a world that wasn’t his own. The day before he was forced to leave his family and friends, and unable to say goodbye. 

Tears started to well up in his eyes. No. No he couldn’t lose control of his emotions now. He had to talk to Wilbur. Crying wasn’t going to help with that. He had already grieved over his lost life. It was time to focus on the present. Taking a deep breath, he wiped his eyes, and stepped in. 

He was maybe halfway through the long tunnel when the deep, haunting sounds of a bell echoed throughout the cavern. The sound was low, almost too low to hear. That didn’t exactly matter. It may have been low, but it was loud. Loud enough to cause Tommy’s eyes to vibrate. He stumbled back, clutching his head. He felt like his skull was about to burst. It was like someone had hooked up a speaker to the inside of his brain and played the lowest note they could at max volume. 

Almost as quickly as it had started, the sound cut out. The young blonde was left on the ground in the fetal position, shaking and trembling. The tears that he had tried so hard to keep from spilling over were now streaming down his face. “What the actual fuck. What the fuck was that. What the fuck is going on,” he muttered desperately, “Christ almighty I just want to go home… I want to fucking go home.”

“Tommy? Are you alright?” A voice asked, cutting through the fog in his mind. Tommy looked up to see Wilbur himself standing over him, looking very concerned. 

“W-wha? Y-yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just a bit startled. What the fuck was that?” he said, standing up and brushing himself off. He stumbled slightly, still shaky from the overbearing sound. 

Wilbur’s eyes narrowed as he placed a hand on Tommy’s shoulder to steady him. “It was the bell. You know, the one that they ring whenever someone new shows up? Are you sure you’re ok?” 

“O-oh! Yeah, yeah of course. The sound must have just shocked me a bit more than normal,” he quickly replied, trying to make the lie sound convincing. “Why on earth do they have to make it so loud?” 

His friend didn’t look convinced, but didn’t continue to press for answers. Instead, he gladly took the change in subject. “I swear, you ask this every time it goes off. It's just part of the enchantment.” 

“Since when is there an enchantment for that?” Tommy muttered under his breath as the two of them walked into the fresh air. He took a deep breath, unbelievably grateful to not be trapped in the suffocating darkness anymore. 

“What were you even doing in the tunnel anyways? I thought you hated it in there.”

“Oh, uh, I was looking to speak with you about something…”

Wilbur raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Perhaps you could tell me now?”

Tommy shook his head quickly. “No, it can wait until after this. I’m sure this is more important.”

The two men walked in silence for a bit, neither one quite sure of what to say. As they climbed the walkway that connected L’Manberg to the DreamSMP, Tommy couldn’t help but marvel at how incredible the world around him looked. Sure, he had seen it all before in-game, but there was something different about seeing it all in person. Something different about actually walking down the wooden path. Hell, even his little hobbit hole base looked different in person. He couldn’t help but stare at it as they passed, earning a strange look from Wilbur. 

They turned at the fork in the road, heading down towards the dip in the wooden path. Tommy could feel his heartbeat quicken as they approached. He knew that he wasn’t in any immediate danger, but just standing in that spot was enough to make him panic. Hell, the planks beneath his feet were still stained a deep red from his blood, despite someones obvious efforts to clean it. This was the same spot that he had stood when his friend had shot him in the heart. This was the spot that he had stood when he had been forced to leave everything he knew behind. 

A hand rested on his shoulder. Tommy looked over to see Wilbur giving him a reassuring smile. “Hey, it's alright. Next time, we’ll be sure to change the meeting spot,” he assured him. 

Tommy felt a wave of gratitude towards his older friend. He hadn’t even needed to say anything and his friend could tell exactly what was wrong. It was nice, to say the least. 

That's when he finally looked at the group of people that had gathered on the bridge. Tommy felt his breath catch in his throat. As he stared at the newcomer, Tommy found himself face to face with his friend Jack Manifold. 

“Jack? What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, trying to figure out what was going on. Had he been transported like Tommy and Dream had? Had he found a different way to enter the SMP world?

However, his friend just stared at him in confusion. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asked. 

Tommy swore under his breath. He had forgotten what Tubbo had told him. People would show up in the woods sometimes with no memory of how they got there, or what their own past was. All they knew was their own name, age, and how to survive the world around them. Any other memories were gone completely. Family, friends, homes, none of it mattered. It was all just gone. 

He tried to cover up his mistake with an excuse, but the damage had already been done. Everyone was staring at him in shock. 

“Tommy,” asked Tubbo, “Tommy did you remember something? Do you know this guy?” his eyes were alight with excitement and hope. 

Tommy made a big show of grabbing his head like it hurt “I… I thought I did. It’s nothing, never mind.” 

Tubbo’s shoulders slumped in disappointment “oh…” 

Dream and George were both staring at him, asking a silent question. Tommy nodded ever so slightly, showing that he did in fact know Jack. Wilbur watched the exchange with narrowed eyes, slightly glaring at Dream and George and shooting a questioning look at Tommy. 

He shrugged it off, trying to act casual. He was going to have a lot to explain later. 

George glanced to Wilbur, then back at Tommy, once more asking a question. Tommy shook his head, trying to communicate that Wilbur didn’t know yet. He sighed, and looked disappointed. Tommy raised his hands in defense, earning another strange look from Will. 

‘One week’ George mouthed silently. Tommy nodded. He had one week to tell Wilbur, or George would do it for him. 

~~~

Tommy rummaged through the closet in his room, trying to find clues about who he was in this world, and what sort of part he needed to play. So far, he hadn’t found much. There were mostly just bins of old clothes. He knew that the strange device on his desk likely held mountains of information, but even just looking at it made him want to throw up. It brought back too many painful memories of what Dream- no, what he had done. 

“You alright man?” Tubbo asked. Tommy jumped in surprise, but quickly shrugged it off. He had nearly forgotten that his friends were there. Tubbo was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall. Wilbur had claimed the chair. 

As Tommy looked to his friend to reassure him, he noticed something strange. “What the hell is that?” He asked, pointing to the strange object. 

“Uh, a sword?” Tubbo replied. It was the foam diamond sword that Tommy had owned for years. Why was he so confused by it?

A bark of laughter escaped his friend as he went over and picked up the sword. “Please, this isn’t a sword. You couldn’t hurt a fly with this thing, even if you tried”

“It’s… it’s not for actually fighting. It’s just a toy,” Wilbur said, his brow furrowed in thought. 

Tommy’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding, right? A sword isn’t meant to be played with. It’s a fucking deadly weapon. God some people…” he muttered as he threw the foam toy into the bed and continued to dig through the closet.

Tubbo and Wilbur looked at each other in concern. Since when did Tommy give a fuck about weapons? Much less swords. 

“So uh… Tommy, what exactly happened to you?” Tubbo asked, trying to change the subject. Wilbur shot him a glare and shook his head, trying to get him to stop. Who knew if Tommy was in any sort of condition to talk about what had happened to him. 

However, Tommy just shrugged. “Dunno. I can’t exactly remember any of it.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. He really couldn’t remember anything from the past week. He just wasn’t exactly telling the whole truth. 

Wilburs eyes narrowed. That was complete and total bullshit. One look at the young teenager and it was obvious that something bad had happened. Something that he was desperate to escape. 

Tubbo on the other hand, just looked concerned. “Really? You don’t remember anything at all?”

“Nope.”

“What about beforehand? Do you remember anything from the stream at all?” he asked, once more ignoring Wilbur’s glare.

“Uhhhh, the what?” Fuck. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? He had no idea what they were talking about, much less what had been going on before the swap happened. He would have to play dumb. It was honestly his best bet right now. “It's all a bit fuzzy. Maybe you could jog my memory a bit?” 

Tubbo glanced at Wilbur, as if only now seeing how his plan could possibly go wrong. Wilbur just shrugged. If Tommy was asking, then he figured it was fine. “We could just pull up some clips. It would probably be easier.” He spun the chair around and faced the computer. “What's your password?” 

“My wha…?” 

Wilbur typed something in and waved his hand “Nevermind, I’ve got it” Soon enough, he had pulled up the most popular clips from the stream. The one at top was obviously the one where Tommy had vanished, but he figured that Tommy wouldn’t exactly want to see that. So instead, he went to the second most popular one. The clip of Eret betraying them. 

Tommy stepped closer to the screen, fascinated by the flashing and glowing lights. His breath caught when he saw the thumbnails for the clips. That was… That was his home. But it was different… It was blocky, and weird. But there was no denying the fact that it was his home. “What the fuck…” he whispered softly. 

“You do remember the SMP, right?” Wilbur asked as he pulled up the short video. 

“Home…” That was when he finally noticed what clip had been pulled up. The starting frame was a shot of them all following Eret down a long tunnel. Tommy felt his heartbeat start to quicken. No, this couldn’t be what he thought it was. That would be impossible. His hand went up to touch a scar on the side of his neck that was no longer there. Of course, this was a different body. 

The clip started playing. As he watched, Tommy was forced to sit down on his bed in order to keep from passing out. It was all too similar. The dark tunnel, Eret’s reassuring voice, him and his friends following like lemmings. He couldn’t watch. This wasn’t right, it wasn’t fucking right. He could feel tears start to flow down his face. It was all coming back to him in a massive wave.

The way that Eret had promised he had a safe place to go. The way they had all been herded into the small room like cattle, no way to run or hide. Eret’s face as he hit the button in the center. The sound of the pistons releasing. The sharp sting of the iron needle being stabbed into his neck. The way he had lost all control over his own muscles and collapsed on the ground. Dream stepping over each and every one of them, taunting and jeering. The white mask that had shown no emotion. Only a sadistic, simple smile. It was too much. He couldn’t fucking handle it. 

“S-stop! Make it stop!” he cried out, gripping his hair. His eyes were shut tight, but tears still flowed freely from them. He was terrified that if he opened his eyes, he would see the porcelain mask. It was coming for him. It was never going to leave him alone. Dream would never let him live in peace. He was curled up in the fetal position on his bed, rocking back and forth. 

“Tommy?! Tommy are you ok?!” Someone asked. He didn’t know who. It sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel, faint and distant. He felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. It was Dream, it had to be. Dream was here to finish the job. He was here to kill him finally. His eyes shot open as he kicked whoever it was that was touching him in the gut and scrambled back. He needed a weapon. He needed to defend himself. His hands desperately grasped at the nightstand, trying to find something, anything that he could use as a weapon. All he found was a couple of pencils. Whatever, he would make it work. 

“Tubbo, go get his parents, quickly!”

Who were they talking about? He didn’t have parents. It must have been some stupid code. “NO!!!” He screamed. He wouldn’t let anyone else hurt him. He wasn’t going to just sit there while someone tried to attack him. He wasn’t going to sit there uselessly again while those around him got hurt. Not again. Not ever, ever again.


	9. Chapter 9

The week passed by rather quickly, and without incident. Every day, Tommy would try to talk to Wilbur. And every day, something would happen. He would always walk in on Wilbur talking with someone else, or drawing up some sort of battle plans. Sometimes he would just end up talking himself out of it, mostly out of fear of Wilbur’s reaction. He couldn’t bear the idea of his friend looking at him with disappointment, and maybe even fear. The fact that he was lying only made it ten times worse. With every day he put it off, the harder and harder it became. 

Every night, he would sneak out to go and train with George and Dream. His knowledge of sword fighting hadn’t exactly improved much, but it was odd. The repetitive motions of sword fighting felt familiar to him, as if he had done it hundreds of times before. It didn’t make any sense, considering how he had never picked up a sword in his life, but it was definitely there. Perhaps it was muscle memory from the other Tommy? That would make the most sense, but even so, it was strange. Either way, his sword fighting skills were increasing dramatically. He was still nowhere on the same level as George or any of the others, but he could at least last for nearly a minute now in a sparring session. Considering how he had started not even able to stand properly, he saw that as an improvement. 

The three of them would trade stories as they trained, each one learning new things about the other world. It was nice, being able to relax and just hang out with friends again like nothing had changed. Of course, the swords broke the illusion slightly, but it was still something that Tommy looked forward to each and every day. 

It was the night before Tommy’s deadline passed, and the three of them were out training like normal. 

“No way. You’re lying, there's no way that's true.” George’s voice cut through the thoughts in Tommy’s mind as he tried to catch up to what was going on. 

“I’m not! I swear it's true!” Dream replied.

“So you’re telling me that I can’t see all the colors?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That’s complete bullshit. You’re such a liar. I think I would have noticed something like that.”

“I’m serious! Here, look at this.” Dream pulled Tommy over and held up his jacket sleeve to the boy's blonde hair. “How different are these two colors?” 

“I dunno, they look pretty similar.” 

Tommy couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He had known about George’s colorblindness, but he hadn’t actually considered the fact that he may not even know about it in this world. It made sense, there was no way for him to figure it out. And if he had lived with it his whole life, then he would have never even realized that something was wrong. 

“George, these are completely different colors,” Dream said, clearly trying his best to not laugh.

“What? No way, no they aren’t. They look the same!” 

“Pffft, I swear that they are completely different colors,” Dream said with a laugh.

“Christ man, I knew your eyes were messed up but I didn’t realize that they were that bad,” Tommy teased, earning an indignant squawk from George.

“My eyes are perfectly fine thank you very much!” 

“Yeah, alright Big G, whatever you say.” The three of them talked like that for a while, late into the night. Tommy wasn’t sure what time it was when he finally left, but he had walked back to his little shack with a smile. 

~~~

Tommy stood at the entrance to the underground bunker for what felt like the hundredth time that week. God, he hated walking through the damn tunnel. It was small and cramped, not to mention just downright creepy. The memory of the piercing bell only made it ten times worse. Every time he stepped foot inside the small tunnel, he was terrified that it was going to ring out again, leaving him shaking, scared, and alone on the rocky ground. He had already chickened out from talking to Wilbur several times that week, just out of pure hatred of the tunnel. 

Now though, he didn’t really have an option. George’s deadline had passed the day before, and now his only hope was to get to Wilbur before George did. Tommy wanted Wilbur to hear the story from him, not from someone else. If George was the one to tell him, then he would likely jump to conclusions. Conclusions that George simply didn’t have the ability to explain away. No. Tommy needed to be the one to tell Wilbur. It was only right.

With a trembling breath, he stepped into the long, dark corridor. The silence surrounded instantly, suffocating him, drowning him. He shook his head desperately. He wasn’t going to let something like a stupid tunnel stop him. His fingers began to dance across the hilt of his sword, creating a slight pinging sound. It wasn’t much, but the soft noise helped to fill the all consuming silence. It was ok, he was going to be ok. The sound of his footfalls against the stone helped to comfort him as well. As long as he kept moving, the sound would continue. Just as long as he kept moving, he would be ok. 

He was about three quarters of the way to the bunker when he first heard the muffled sounds of voices. It was the sound of arguing, of shouting. Wilbur’s voice drifted through the tunnel towards him, echoing throughout the small space. “What?! Then where the fuck is Tommy?!” he cried out, his voice filled with desperation and fear. 

George's reply was faint, too far away to hear, but Tommy had a decent guess of what he had said. He didn’t know. No one knew. The other Tommy had disappeared and no one knew what had happened. For all they knew, he could have died. Fuck… that was probably what Wilbur was thinking as well. He needed to get in there, to explain himself. 

“That doesn’t- how the fuck do I know you’re not lying?!” Wilbur shouted. Tommy ran towards the sound of voices, desperate for a chance to explain himself. He needed to tell Wilbur the whole story, from his point of view. 

As he burst into the small bunker, he couldn’t help but look around in awe. What had once been a small, three by three room was now a multi-room underground house. Only the main room was surrounded by obsidian, but the other rooms had small doorways that could easily be blocked off and covered if needed. Tommy had to admit, it was an impressive sight to behold. At the center of the main room sat a table covered in different maps and plans. Bookshelves lined the walls, all filled to the brim with different books. It was the type of area that should have felt cold and empty, but was somehow filled with a lively warmth. 

At the center of it all, standing over the table, were his friends. Wilbur towered over George, staring at him pleadingly. “Where the fuck is he? How did you even know any of this?!”

“Wilbur! Will, I can explain,” Tommy said, putting his hands in the air to show he meant no harm.

Wilbur crossed over to the entrance in three strides and placed his hands on Tommy’s shoulders. His eyes burned with anger and pain, but there was an undertone of regret as well. Perhaps regret that he couldn’t do anything? Or regret that he hadn’t noticed sooner? Tommy didn’t know. “Where is he?! What the fuck did you do to him?!” He shouted, shaking the younger teenager as he interrogated him. 

“I-I don’t know! I didn’t do anything, I swear! Just give me a chance to explain, please!” Tommy pleaded, trying to get his friend to see reason.

“Bullshit! I fucking knew something was up with you, but I didn’t think that it was something like this! Who the fuck even are you anyways?!” 

“I’m still Tommy! Just give me a chance to fucking explain myself!” he cried, pushing Wilbur away. “Trust me, I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here. I just want to go home”

“I don’t give a fuck about what you want. All I care about is the fact that you’ve possessed the body of my right hand man, and apparently you’ve been plotting with the men of the DreamSMP,” Wilbur snarled. 

“What…? Wha- no, I didn’t! I had no say over any of this! I was living my normal life when suddenly I was here! I’ve been trying to figure out a way to go home ever since!” 

“Oh really? And when did that happen? How long have you been ‘trapped’ here?” he asked, making air quotes with his fingers.

“I dunno, two weeks maybe? I-It happened during the duel with Dream…” 

“Right. Two weeks that you could have come and talked to me. Two weeks that you could have come and asked for help, or just told me what was going on. Instead, you sneak out in the middle of the night to talk with Dream. God, you’re just as bad as Eret.” 

Tommy’s eyes widened. “How did you…?” 

“I fucking saw you! Did you really think I was going to let you go out in the middle of the night without backup?! No, of course not!”

“So you followed me?!”

“Yeah! I needed to make sure that you weren’t going to go and do something stupid! Low and behold, you went directly to talk with Dream of all people. The only reason I didn’t confront you was because I knew I needed to trust my right hand man. But apparently he’s gone! He’s fucking gone and I had no clue!” His voice broke on the last sentence as tears started to form in his eyes. Hastily, he wiped them away. 

“What the hell was I supposed to say? ‘Oh hi Wilbur, by the way I’m a Tommy from a different dimension where all of this is just a fun video game. Oh also the man that tried to kill all of you is the only person who I can actually talk to about this because he’s going through it too,’” Tommy scoffed. “Do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds?! You would have said I was insane and then called it a day. I wouldn’t even have had a chance to fucking talk.”

“You could have at least tried! If you really are just a different Tommy, than why the hell did you not trust me enough to talk to me? I would have listened!”

“Because you were at war! You were in the middle of a fucking war and there was just never a good time. Believe me, I thought about it, but you just always seemed so stressed out and I couldn’t find it in myself to add more to the pile.” 

“But you still should have tried.” Wilbur turned his back to the boy and walked over to the tables. “Who else knows.”

“Uh, Tubbo thinks I have slight amnesia, but other than that, it's just George. Dream knows since he’s in the same boat as me, but that's besides the point.”

He nodded gravely. “Right. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to go out there and tell Tubbo that his best friend may be dead because of you, and then I want you gone. I want you out of my sight. Until you can tell me exactly what happened to the real Tommy, I want you out of these walls. Understood?” 

Tommy could feel his heart shatter. No, this couldn’t be happening. He had just started to get used to the supportive family that L’Manberg provided, and now it was being taken away. Even worse than that, he needed to go face Tubbo… He wasn’t sure how his friend would react, but it likely wasn’t going to be good. Still, this was what he deserved, wasn’t it? He had technically caused the disappearance of this world's Tommy, even if he didn’t do anything on purpose. The other boy was still gone because of him. “Of course… Yes sir,” He said solemnly. 

“Good. George, I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I may not consider you an ally, but you have gained my respect.”

“Thank you Wilbur. I felt that you had the right to know. Come on Tommy, let's go,” George said, as he walked past Tommy and into the dark tunnel once more. Tommy spared one last glance behind him before he followed George, trying to get one last look at his friend. All he could see was a tall, hunched over figure. As the two of them walked towards the daylight, the boy swore he could hear the distant sobs of a heartbroken man.


	10. Chapter 10

Wilbur sat in his office, staring at his computer screen in dismay. It had been roughly a week since him and Tubbo had gone and visited Tommy. Roughly a week since his friend's panic attack. A week since Tommy had started acting differently. His friend had been acting secretive all week, almost terrified in a strange way. He acted as if no one could see the way he flinched at loud noises, or the fearful look in his eyes whenever someone came too close. He had fumbled around with the phone, as if not even knowing how to use it. He had talked to Dream in an almost pleading tone, begging for… something, and Will didn’t know what it was. He had never seen his friend acting like that before. 

His hand traced over the long scar on his arm that Tommy had given him during his panic attack. He didn’t blame his friend at all for the wound, in fact it was mostly his own fault for trying to comfort him. At that moment, it had been clear that Tommy hadn’t actually been seeing him. He had seen someone, or something else. In Wilbur’s concern for his friend, he had reached out to comfort him, despite the fact that he knew it was a bad idea. 

His stupidity had earned him a long, jagged cut down the side of his forearm from the pencil that Tommy had been wielding as a weapon. He had jerked back with a hiss of pain. “Get the fuck away from me! I won’t let you hurt anyone else!” Tommy had screamed. 

Tubbo took a small step forward, his hands out in front of him comfortingly “Tommy, you’re ok, I promise. No one is going to hurt you.” His voice was soft and calm, as if he was talking to a wild animal. Based on the look in Tommy’s eyes, it wasn’t too far off from the truth. 

Tommy’s blue eyes had snapped over to Tubbo, as if trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. “Tubbo? Tubbo you need to run! He’s going to kill you, he’s going to fucking kill you and burn our home to the ground!” 

“Hey, it's all right. I’m fine, see? No one is going to kill me.”

Desperately, Tommy grabbed his friend's shoulders, trying to get it through Tubbo’s head that he needed to run. “You don’t get it. H-He’s going to kill all of you. You need to find the others and warn them. I can’t… I can’t fucking lose you.”

“Tommy, take a deep breath. You’re safe. I promise that we’re both safe.”

“But Dream-” he shuttered, a wave of sobs running through him, “God this is my fault. Why the fuck did I listen to him? Now you’re all going to fucking die because of me!” 

Wilbur stared intently at the scar on his arm, trying to figure out what the hell Tommy had meant. Clearly, Dream had done something to him. But what? What had he done that was so terrible, it had caused the boy to collapse over a simple video clip? Will had rewatched the clip several times, trying to pinpoint exactly what could have possibly triggered the terrible PTSD. He had found nothing.

After WIlbur and Tubbo had left Tommy’s house, it had seemed like things were slowly but surely returning back to normal. Tommy had quickly gone from acting as if he knew nothing about the world around him or how to do anything, to slowly but surely returning to his old, chipper self. Even so, it didn’t feel right. Something was still wrong. His jokes all felt forced, his smiles all fake. Whenever they were in a call together, his words all felt carefully planned out, as if he were scared of saying something wrong. No one brought up his outburst, but it was clear that they were all thinking about it. 

At one point, Tubbo had hesitantly suggested that Tommy get on the DreamSMP, clearly scared of triggering another panic attack. 

However, Tommy had just gone silent, before very quietly saying, “What…?” His voice had been filled with a hesitant hope. Hope for what, Will didn’t know. But it was something that he hadn’t heard in his friend's voice all week, and he wasn’t going to question it. 

“The SMP? The server?” 

“How do I… How do I do that?” He had asked quietly.

Tubbo had ended up walking his friend through the entire process of getting online, never once asking why or sounding annoyed. It was clear how important this was to Tommy, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ruin it by teasing. 

As Tommy had logged onto the server, the discord call was silent. No one spoke as he spun in a slow circle, taking in everything around him. Not a word was muttered as he cautiously moved around. The only sound that could be heard were the quiet sobs being picked up by his mic.

“Home…” He had whispered quietly, the sound just barely loud enough to be picked up over discord. 

God, none of it made any sense. None of it made any damn sense, and just thinking about it made Wilbur’s head hurt. Tommy acted as though he was an entirely different person. At first, Will had just attributed his strange behavior to PTSD. A strange way of coping after whatever hell he had gone through. But now… Now he wasn’t so sure. Tommy was recovering far too quickly for it to be merely PTSD. So what the hell was going on? He needed to talk to Tubbo. They needed answers.

~~~

The next day, Tommy was sitting in front of his computer, staring at the walls of L’Manberg. Looking at it made his chest hurt with homesickness, but it was his only connection to his old life. It may not have been as impressive as the real thing, but it was still beautiful in its own right. Ever since the others had shown him the server, he had spent most of his time on it. He hadn’t exactly done anything, but simply walking around the familiar lands of his home felt calming. 

A ring sounded from his computer, making him jump. It took him a couple seconds to calm down enough to register that it was only an incoming call, and not any sort of attack. With a slightly trembling hand, he answered. 

Silence. “Hello?” he asked, trying to see what was going on. 

“Hey Tommy.” Tubbo’s voice was reserved, almost nervous in a way. Tommy could feel his muscles tense. The last time he had heard his friend speak like this was during the war. Something had happened. Something must have happened.

“What's wrong? Are you ok? Did something bad happen?” he asked, trying to figure out what was going on. 

“What? No, no. We just uh… We just wanted to ask you something.”

“I mean, go for it…? Are you sure everything is alright?” 

“We’re fine. Tommy, I want you to answer me honestly, got it?” Wilbur’s voice cut interrupted his rampaging thoughts. Thoughts of how his friends were hurt. Thoughts of what had gone wrong. Thoughts of how Dream might have gotten to them… “Tommy, what happened to you?”

“I told you already. I don’t remember,” he replied half heartedly, his mind elsewhere. 

“I think we all know that isn’t true. Tommy, what did Dream do?”

That brought his train of thought to a screeching halt. What did they know? How did they figure it out? What had he done wrong? “W-what? What do you mean?” 

“Alright, I’ll let you in on a little secret. TommyInnit wasn’t this shit of a liar. He was bad at it, yeah, but at least he could lie without sounding like a moron. I’m going to ask this once, and I expect a straight answer. Who the hell are you?” 

Tommy felt like his blood had frozen in his veins. They knew, they fucking knew. Dream was going to kill him. Dream was going to follow through with his threat. “I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Wilbur ran a hand through his hair. “Alright. If you aren’t going to give us a straight answer, I might as well ask Dream himself.”

“NO!” He screamed. If Will went and asked Dream, then Dream would think that Tommy had snitched. Then, who knows what would happen. “Please don’t talk to Dream about it. Please.” 

Will had already left the call.

~~~

“Yeah, you’re right, chat. Hold on let me check if he’s online,” Eret said, switching browsers from Minecraft to Discord. “Yep, he’s in VC 3 with Tubbo.” 

Eret clicked on the voice chat. He tried to talk yet Tubbo cut him off. “Oh fuck, we aren’t in a private VC.”

“Sorry, a wha-”

“Er… Hello?” Eret said. The two of them suddenly stopped talking. “So, what’re you two up to?”

“...Eret?” Tommy said, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“Am I intruding on something? I can go if you’d like.” Eret replied, hoping to lighten the tension on the situation. Eret’s twitch chat was going insane, spamming questions and shouting. Eret wasn’t really focused on the chat.

“Hold on, I think we should go to a privat-” Tubbo spoke but was cut off.

“No, that- that’s not right- I- you fucking-” Tommy started, and was immediately removed from the VC. Tubbo also exited the VC seconds after.

“It is actually getting a bit late here so I guess it’s time to end the stream.” Eret tried to make an excuse to end the stream. “I’ll see you later guys. I love you all so much, thank you for all the support this stream. I think I’m gonna be streaming tomorrow? Still not sure. Anyways, I’ll see you guys later. Peace.” 

He quickly exited Twitch and stopped streaming. Tommy sounded… mad? Upset? Scared? Eret didn’t know. He opened Discord and sent a message to Tommy. 

TheEret Today at 8:52 pm  
You alright? 

He instantly got a Discord notification back, but it wasn’t from Tommy. 

Tubbo_ Today at 8:52 pm  
can we private VC?

TheEret Today at 8:53 pm  
sure

The second he sent the message, he got a call from Tubbo. “Hey, Eret.” Tubbo said. “I… I don’t think Tommy’s feeling too well. I’m really not sure what happened.”

“Oh god. Is he okay?” Eret asked, concern creeping into his voice. 

“I- hold on, I’ll DM him and see if he wants to talk.” 

“Alright.”

A few seconds passed. “Oh. Oh no.” Tubbo said.

“Wait, did something happen? What’d he say?” 

“He’s very… mad at you. I- Oh jeez, that’s a lot of messages- I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Do you think it’s because of the SMP? I- you know it was just a bit, right?” Eret asked. Surely, Tommy can’t be mad at him because of a video game, right?

“Yeah, yeah, but he’s… he sounds pissed, man. I don’t know wha- Oh. Shit, hold on, he wants to be added in the call. You okay with that?”

Honestly, Eret wasn’t sure. “Uh- yes?”

“Eret.” Tommy’s voice rang through the call. His voice was quiet and stable, unlike his usual self. “What the fuck.”

“I- I’m sorry? I don’t know what I did wrong. Was it the SMP? You know that was a-”

“You could’ve been on the right side of history, Eret. You could’ve-” 

“Tommy, calm-”

“Instead, you chose to loot us and leave us for dead. You chose power. You chose to be with Dream.”

Wait, were they supposed to be in character? Eret just ended his stream, so was Tubbo streaming? Or was it something else?

He immediately switched into character, hoping it was the right move. “Well, it wasn’t hard for me to choose. You were fighting for something futile, something you didn’t guarantee. I chose Dream because you were fighting a losing battle, and I didn’t want to get the short end of the stick.”

Whilst he was talking, Eret sent Tubbo a Discord message.

TheEret Today at 9:12 pm  
Are you and tommy streaming?

Tubbo_ Today at 9:12 pm  
no?

TheEret Today at 9:12 pm  
so i’m not supposed to be in character?

Tubbo_ Today at 9:12 pm  
uhh yeah

Before Eret could wrap his head around the situation, another person joined the call. It was Wilbur. “Dream said you have 48 hours, Tommy wh- wait, why is Eret here?”

Before Eret could respond, he was kicked from the call. He stared at his monitor in stunned silence, not entirely sure of what had just happened. Tommy had seemed so mad at him for his “betrayal,” even though none of them were supposed to be in character. Why was he so upset? And why did Wilbur react to Eret being there in the way that he did? Had he said something wrong? Was there some sort of planned stream that Eret wasn’t told about?

Eret turned off his computer with a sigh. His mind was racing with possibilities of what had just happened and why, but he wouldn’t be able to act on his thoughts until tomorrow. All he could do now was sleep.

~~~

On the other side of the country, a man sat in front of his computer. A sadistic grin sat upon his face. “I warned you not to tell them, Tommy. Now it's time to face the consequences of your actions.”


	11. Chapter 11

Tubbo was sitting next to the small pond in the middle of L’manberg, staring into the water. Fish darted through the swaying grass, creating small ripples in the otherwise still surface. He heard the grass rustle behind him and didn’t need to look to know it was his closest friend. 

Tommy sighed. “Hey Big T.” His voice was subdued, filled with a type of grief. 

Tubbo looked up, eyes full of concern. “Hey man, you alright?” 

“Yeah… Yeah I’m good.” Tommy plopped down in the grass next to Tubbo and stared into the water. “Look, there's something I need to tell you. Just… Just promise me you won’t freak out, ok? At least not until I’ve had a chance to explain myself.”

“Ok? Whats up?” 

Tommy took a deep breath. He couldn’t help but be terrified of how Tubbo would react to the news. He didn’t want to lose his best friend… “I’m… I’m not your Tommy,” he admitted. He spoke slowly, as if each word was chosen carefully. 

Tubbo furrowed his brow. “What? What do you mean?” 

“I mean, I’m still Tommy, but just not the same Tommy. Does that make sense?”

“Kinda?”

Tommy let out a sigh, before telling his best friend the whole story. He explained how he was ripped away from his home, how he had woken up here with an arrow in his chest, how he had experienced the war through a screen. It was similar to what had happened with George, except this time he had no one to back him up. There was no one there to vouch for him, and all he could do was hope that Tubbo would trust him. 

When he was finished, there were tears in his friends' eyes. “So… You’re telling me that you’re from another world? And that my Tommy might be dead?”

“Yeah.” 

“Tommy, how long have you been hiding this from us?” 

“Two weeks maybe? It happened during the bow duel.”

“You’ve been away from your home for two weeks, and you didn’t say anything?

“I’m sorry… I should have told you what was happening. I’m really sorry. I just… I didn’t know what to say.”

“Have you been dealing with this all alone for the past two weeks?” 

“I mean, not really… The same thing happened to Dream, so I’ve been talking with him. George has been teaching us sword fighting.” he shrugged 

“Tommy…” Tubbo reached up and wiped away the tears that were starting to fall. “Tommy, why did you wait so long to tell me? Damn it, I should have noticed sooner. I should have been there to help you” 

“W-what? Tubbo I just told you that your best friend could potentially be dead because of me, and that's what you’re worried about?”

“You’re still Tommy, aren’t you? You may not be the same Tommy that tried to scare me after I first arrived, or the Tommy that broke his arm while trying to build the wall, but you’re still my friend.”

“But… But what about your Tommy…?”

Tubbo shrugged “I trust that he’s still alive. I feel like I would know if something happened to him. Besides, he’s too stubborn to die in such a stupid way.”

Tommy could feel his eyes start to water. He hastily reached up and wiped away the tears “I… thank you big man. Thank you so much”

Tubbo turned and gave his friend a hug “Yeah, no problem. We’re gonna get you home, ok? We’re gonna find a way to get you back home.”

The tears flowed freely down his cheeks. How long had it been since he had last been comforted like this? Since someone had actually promised to help him get home? Suddenly, he realized just how lonely the past two weeks had been. Being forced to act as though nothing was wrong, and that he didn’t desperately want to return home had taken a toll on him. His only release was late at night while sparring with Dream and George, but that only lasted for a few hours. The rest of the time, he had felt completely and desperately alone. So finally having the chance to actually talk to someone felt so relieving. 

They sat like that for a long time. Exactly how long, Tommy wasn’t sure. By the time he finally moved, his tears had long since dried. 

“So, where are you going to go?” Tubbo asked him.

Right. He had almost forgotten about his banishment. “I’m not sure. I might go and stay with Dream for a bit. I really don’t want to live alone for now.”

“That makes sense. Do you need help gathering your stuff together?” 

“I mean, I didn’t exactly have much. But you can come along if you want. I wouldn’t mind the company.” 

As the two friends walked back to the small wooden shed, Tubbo couldn’t help but go over the past two weeks in his mind. What he could have done differently. Things that he should have noticed. Ways he could have helped. 

“Hey big T, you alright?” Tommy asked as they stepped inside the small building. 

“Yeah I’m good. Just thinking.”

“Alright… let me know if you need anything, ok?”

“Yeah. Yeah I will. Thank you.” 

~~~

About an hour later, Tommy and Tubbo found themselves knocking on the door of Dream’s base, each of them holding a chest full of items. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I know that you trust him, but our Dream did some really messed up stuff…” Tubbo muttered, feeling extremely uneasy about Tommy’s plan of staying with Dream. He knew that it was irrational, especially if Tommy was right about this being a different Dream, but that didn’t exactly do anything to help his anxiety. 

“Yeah. I’m not sure what exactly the other Dream did to you guys, but this Dream is a really chill guy, I swear.” 

“Ok… I trust you…” he didn’t feel totally sure, but he knew that he trusted his best friend. If Tommy trusted Dream, then so did Tubbo. 

The door to the base creaked open, revealing a disheveled man behind it. Tubbo instinctively tensed, unable to shake the feeling of fear. However, a closer look at Dream made it pretty obvious that he wasn’t exactly dangerous. In fact, it looked as though he had just gotten out of bed. His blonde hair was a complete mess, as if he hadn’t been bothered to comb it. Dark circles rested underneath his eyes as he gave them a tired glare. “What do you want?” his voice was sluggish and drowsy.

“Ok I know this is- wait. Did you just wake up? Dude it’s like noon. Why the hell were you still sleeping?” Tommy asked, clearly trying to hold in a laugh.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe because I’ve been staying up until 3 am every day for the past two weeks training?” It was only then that he finally noticed Tubbo’s presence. “Uhhh I mean… Fuck. It's too early for this.” he ran a hand through his already messy hair.

“Yeah Tubbo knows by the way. Kinda the reason why we’re here.”

“Uhh, hi?” Tubbo gave a small little wave, trying to control the fear that was stirring in his gut. 

“Jesus christ… alright come on in. You have a lot of explaining to do.”

About 10 minutes later, the three of them sat inside Dream’s base. In Dream’s hands was a vial of blue liquid. As Tubbo and Tommy watched, he poured a few drops into a small bottle of water. “Are you… Are you drinking a speed pot?” Tubbo asked, his voice quiet and nervous. He still didn’t want to anger Dream, despite Tommy’s reassurance that it was fine.

“It’s about the closest thing to my meds that I’ve got here,” he said with a deadpan voice. Tubbo just stared at him in confusion. “He’s got something weird with his brain that makes it hard for him to focus sometimes. Medication helps make it easier to deal with apparently,” ,” Tommy explained. “I still think he’s making shit up, though.” “I dare you to try and function with ADHD without any medication,” Dream said as he took a sip of the water. “No, I’m pretty sure you’re being a little bitch about it,” he grumbled. 

Dream rolled his eyes. “So what exactly happened? Why do you have all your stuff with you? Why does Tubbo know about what happened?” 

Tommy launched into an explanation as to what had happened earlier that day. His breath caught as he explained what Wilbur had told him, and the way that he had been banished. It hadn’t really sunk in until just then what had happened, and the weight of it all was crashing down on him hard. His eyes started to water, but he hastily brushed away the tears. No. He had already cried enough today. He needed to be focused on a solution. Tubbo placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. Tommy gave his friend a grateful smile and pushed onwards. 

By the time he had finished his story, Dream was looking at him in shock. “Wait so he actually kicked you out?” 

“Yeah… Yeah he did.” 

“Damn. Ok… I mean, yeah sure you can stay here if you need. Is Tubbo staying here as well?” 

“Uh, n-no sir. I was just helping Tommy with his stuff…” He stammered. 

Dream let out a laugh “Did you just call me sir? Wow, ok I didn’t realize I was that old”

Tubbo looked down in embarrassment. Right. This was a different person. He needed to remember that. His eyes were fixed upon the small pile of Tommy’s tools and weapons that was in the corner. “S-sorry…” He muttered. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. “H-hey Tommy? Why is your bow blinking?” 

“What?” Tommy’s eyes snapped to the pile. Sure enough, on the grip of his enchanted bow, was a small blinking red light. 

~~~

“Dream, I need to ask you a few questions,” Wilbur said into his mic. He had just gotten off the phone with Tommy and Tubbo, and had decided to go directly to Dream for answers. 

“Like what?” Dream said in a casual tone. 

Despite everything, Will couldn’t help but feel a small sense of relief at his friends voice. It was the first time he had actually spoken to Dream since his disappearance, so hearing his voice again was definitely a weight off his shoulders. “What did you do to Tommy?” He asked, forcing his voice to be calm and even. 

A brief pause. “What do you mean?” 

Of course Dream would try to play dumb. Wilbur had expected it to be the case. He had prepared for it. “Tommy just told me and Tubbo exactly what happened. I simply want to hear both sides of the story.” Will figured that if Dream was cornered, he would have an easier time admitting to what happened. 

Another pause, longer this time. Dream couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. A sadistic smile of excitement stretched across his face. “That little snitch…” he said quietly. “Alright, you know what? I’m feeling generous. You can tell Tommy that he’s got 48 hours before I make my move. 48 hours to try and figure out how to say goodbye.” A low, menacing laugh emerged from Wilbur’s speakers “I look forward to seeing his next course of action is”

“W-what? What the fuck are you on about?”

“The timer is ticking Wilbur. I recommend you start acting.” The call ended. 

Wilbur sat in his chair for what felt like forever, trying to figure out what had just happened. Dream had been blackmailing Tommy. He had been threatening something, and Will had very likely just made him follow through with that threat. Fuck. He needed to tell Tommy. He needed to figure out the full story. Quickly, he went in and joined the private call with Tommy and Tubbo. 

“Dream said you have 48 hours, Tommy wh- wait, why is Eret here?” He asked. Eret was quickly booted from the call by Tubbo. 

“Sorry about that. Tommy wanted to talk with him. What’s up Wilbur?” 

“I… I fucked up. I really fucked up. Tommy, I need you to tell me exactly what Dream did. And don’t you fucking dare tell me that you don’t remember.”

“What…? Wilbur what did you do? What did he say?” Tommy asked, his voice frantic. He was still shaken after the exchange with Eret, and Wilbur’s behavior wasn’t exactly helping. 

“I don’t know! All he said was that you have 48 hours until he makes his move, and then he left. I figured you would know what he meant.”

“No… No no no this can’t be happening. Fuck…! Fucking hell do you have any idea what you just did Wilbur?! You just fucking killed them all! Everyone! He’s going to fucking kill them now because of you! Tubbo, Will, Fundy, all of them! Everyone I knew and loved is now going to die because of your fucked up curiosity!” He yelled. He couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. If only he had never followed Dream in the first place. Then, none of this would be happening. He would still be at home. His friends wouldn’t be in danger. Everyone would still be safe. 

“Tommy, Tommy! Calm down!” Wilbur said, trying to keep up. 

That only made the panic worse. Those were the exact same words that Wilbur had told Tommy when he had challenged Dream to the duel. The exact same words that had only served to fuel his rage and anger. All of that rage and anger came flooding back to him. “No! No I’m not going to calm down when the people I care for are about to die because of you! My fucking home is going to be destroyed in a few days because of you!” 

“Tommy, no one is going to destroy your house. Take a deep breath”

“I’m not talking about this fucking house!! I’m talking about my world! The world that all of you treat like it’s a fucking game! Well guess what? It’s not a game. There are people living there. People who are just trying to live their lives. People who are sick of living in fear. People like me.”

A silence fell over the call as Tubbo and Wilbur processed exactly what their friend was saying. “What are you talking about…?” tubbo asked softly. His voice was filled with hurt and disbelief, as if he didn’t want to believe what his mind was telling him. 

“Do I have to spell it out for you?! I’m not from this world, Tubbo! I’m not the same Tommy that you knew a month ago. That Tommy is gone. And because of you, he’s likely going to die.” He spat out. God, what was he doing? His friends were in danger and here he was, yelling at people that had done nothing but try to help and give support. 

Wilbur gasped as the pieces clicked into place. Every strange action, each weird conversation from the past week came back to him. “You’re from the SMP, aren’t you?”

Tommy let out a cry of outrage “Don’t you fucking dare associate my name with the Dream SMP! I didn’t fight in a fucking war just to be grouped in with those bastards. I didn’t risk my fucking life for people to associate me with them!”

“Right, right. I’m sorry. You’re from L’manberg. Not the SMP. My mistake.” Will said immediately. The last thing that he needed was this other Tommy angry at him. Especially if what he said about their Tommy being in danger was true. “God, that makes sense. That makes so much sense. Oh my god that's why you freaked out over the clip of Eret!” 

Tommy felt every muscle in his body tense at the name. “What you showed me was a walk in the park compared to what actually happened. He fucking drugged us all, and then Dream came out and taunted us. I still have nightmares about it…” 

“Anyways! Maybe we shouldn’t talk about that right now!” Tubbo said hastily. He didn’t want his friend to have another PTSD episode, especially now that he knew why it was so bad. “You uh, you said that Dream was going to do something?” 

“Yeah. Yeah I did. So… in this world, my world is just a game that you run on a server, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“It was the same in my world. The entire universe was connected to a single computer that Dream found. With the right command, it could do whatever he wanted. Change memories, create objects out of thin air, hell, even teleportation.” 

“Which is how you managed to get here… right?” 

“Exactly. Apparently the computer was connected with another computer that he found here. I think it belonged to the other Dream?”

“That makes sense… Dream hosted the server…” 

Tommy took a deep breath. “He told me that if I… If I told anyone what had happened he would delete the server. And considering how everything else about my world and this server is connected, I’m about 99% sure that doing so would destroy my world, and kill everyone in it.”


	12. Chapter 12

Silence. Complete and total silence fell over the call as both Tubbo and Wilbur tried to process what Tommy was saying. The moment was tense, and loaded with unanswered questions. 

“Fuck…” Wilbur muttered. He didn’t know what else to say. He was in a state of shock. What was he supposed to do? He had just learned that two of his friends were trapped in another dimension, and that said dimension was going to be destroyed because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. 

“Yeah. I feel like that sums it up pretty well.” Tommy had no idea what he was supposed to be doing, or even feeling. There were so many emotions raging through his mind. Anger at Wilbur for talking to Dream. Relief that Tubbo and Wilbur weren’t screaming at him. Fear that his home was going to be destroyed.

God, he was sick of being afraid. He had felt nothing but fear and terror for a week straight, and thought that he had grown numb to it. He had thought wrong. The raw terror that coursed through his veins in that moment was nothing like he had ever felt before. It was cold and numbing. It made him want to just crawl into his bed and lay there. He felt completely and unbelievably hopeless. At least during the war there had been a small sliver of hope. A tiny beacon of light in all the darkness. It had been what kept him going. Now, there was nothing. He had no way of fighting back. No way of even contacting his friends and seeing if they were safe. He hated it.

“So. What’s the plan?” Tubbo’s voice shook Tommy from his intrusive thoughts. He couldn’t help but feel grateful for Tubbo’s optimism, despite the fact that he knew it was hopeless. “How are we gonna stop him?” 

“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice quiet. 

“We’re not just going to let him kill all those people, right? There's gotta be something we can do. Some way that we can stop him.”

“Tubbo, I-”

“No, he’s right.” Will interjected. “We aren’t just going to sit around and do nothing. Besides, if what you said is true, then our Tommy and Dream are stuck there as well. We’re not just going to let them die.” 

“You guys don’t get it, do you…?” Tommy muttered. He knew his friends were trying their best, but the hopelessness of the situation was suffocating. It was like he was standing in a pool of quicksand, slowly being dragged down. Each time he struggled and tried to resist, he was only dragged down farther. He was tired of fighting it. “You can’t stop him. We don’t even know where he is.”

Tubbo was silent for a moment. “What if we switched you guys back? We could figure out the command that swapped you in the first place and just run it again.”

“I mean, you can try. But wouldn’t you need Dream’s computer?” 

A sly grin spread across Tubbo’s face. “Who says I need access to his computer to access the server? Just give me a few minutes.” The sound of typing echoed through Tommy’s headphones.

He frowned, confused as to what was going on. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to access the server.” He didn’t offer any more information.

“While he’s doing that, maybe you could tell us more about what happened to you. How did you even end up involved with Dream? From the sounds of it, he's fucking terrifying,” Wilbur asked. He figured that the more they knew about what was going on, the easier it would be to try and solve their issue. 

“I… He used to disappear for really long periods of time. Eventually I got curious. I saw him leaving and tried to follow. He caught me pretty quickly. He… he said that he would kill everyone in L’Manberg if I didn’t go with him and do what he said.”

Wilbur’s eyes narrowed. That didn’t make any sense. Why on earth would Dream force Tommy to go with him if he hadn’t gone far? Something wasn’t adding up. “What-”

“I’M IN!” Tubbo yelled out, cutting off Will’s question. 

“You’re in?” Tommy asked.

“I have access to the server.” Tubbo explained. “Maybe I can try and contact them.”

“Wait, what do you mean you have access to the server?” Wilbur said.  
“I have the console open, wait- here.” Tubbo started sharing his screen on Discord. 

A black background filled with white text that neither Wilbur nor Tommy could understand appeared on the screen. It was filled with coordinates and commands that were constantly being updated every couple of seconds. A waterfall of white text was filling Tubbo’s screen. He could see a grayed out command that read ‘/msg TommyInnit hello?’.

“Hey, wait a second,” Wilbur said. “Tubbo’s commands aren’t working.”

“Do you think it could be some sort of activation key?” Tommy asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

“...Exactly. How did you know?” Tubbo asked.

“I think I may know where that is.”

~~~

“What the fuck?” Tommy held the wooden bow in his hands, staring at the blinking light. “Have either of you ever seen this kinda thing before?”

“Why the hell would I know anything? I’ve been here as long as you have,” Dream remarked as he took another drink from the glass bottle. 

“I dunno, maybe because you’re the server owner?”

“Just because I’m the server owner doesn’t mean I know what's happening.” 

“Well, maybe you should.”

Dream only rolled his eyes. Tubbo squirmed a bit. Seeing Dream acting so casual was… unnerving. The lack of a mask only made it ten times worse. Until an hour ago, he had never even seen the man’s face. It was always just the blank mask, cold and emotionless. Seeing the raw emotions on his face was somehow scarier than not seeing them at all. A shudder ran down his spine. 

“Tubbo? Any ideas?” 

Tubbo jumped slightly, caught off guard by the sudden question. “Huh? O-oh! No, I don’t know. Sorry man, I’ve never seen anything like this before.” 

A sigh escaped him as he ran a hand over the leather wrapped grip. The blinking light stared up at him, almost taunting him in a way. That was when he felt it. A small raised section of the grip, right where his finger would sit if he were holding it normally. He frowned. “what the fuck?” 

“What? What is it?” Dream asked quickly. 

“I dunno. It’s just a weird bump…”

“Oh. That's it? It's probably just from the other Tommy making his bow wrong or something.” 

Tubbo shook his head, quick to defend his best friend. “No… Tommy was really good at making weapons. He wouldn’t have done something like that. It’s not like him.” 

Tommy’s brow furrowed as he ran his finger over the strange button. On a whim, he pressed down. 

A scream was torn from his throat as a robotic voice played in his ears. “Hello?” it said. 

“What the fuck?!” 

“Tommy?! Tommy are you ok?! What happened?!” Tubbo was instantly on his feet, trying to check on his friend. His instincts kicked in. Everything that had kept him and his friends alive during the war came rushing back to him as he frantically checked Tommy for any wounds or injuries. Nothing. No visible cuts or bruises. Maybe it was mental? Or a type of potion. Or maybe even- 

“Tubbo, Tubbo! I’m fine! I promise. Just a bit startled.” Tommy’s voice brought his train of thought to an abrupt halt. Tubbo sat back down, his face burning with shame. 

Dream stared at them in concern. “What happened?”

“Did you not hear it?” he furrowed his brow, trying to put the pieces together.

“Hear what?” 

“That weird voice thingy. I pressed the little button and the robot lady started talking.”

“You’re hearing voices now? Are you alright?” 

“Yes, Dream! I’m fine!” he cried out in exasperation. The blinking light on the grip of the bow had gone dark, leaving nothing but a regular wooden bow.

~~~

“How do you even know that they’re in your world?” Wilbur asked. Tubbo had already set the command in the server, and now the three of them were just waiting for some sort of results. Now, they were all just sitting around, trying to get more answers out of Tommy. “I mean, for all we know they could be floating out in the empty void of nothing.”

“No, I’m sure that your Tommy and Dream are in my world. Dream seemed really confident about it. He said something about it already being tested or whatever. 

“Tested? Tested on what?” 

“I don’t know. He never told me. All he said was that the test had worked.”

“Alright, I’m just gonna be the one to say it, thats sketchy as fuck.” Tommy couldn’t help but jump. Tubbo had been so quiet while they were talking, he had forgotten that he was even there. “I mean, I get that he’s a sketchy guy, but that's just weird.”

Tommy took a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart. “Yeah… It really is. I learned pretty quickly not to question him though. He was fucking terifying whenever he got asked too many questions.” A shudder ran down his spine as he remembered the blank, emotionless mask. God, he hated that fucking mask. Every night, he was plagued with nightmares about it. 

“Tubbo, I think your command went through” Wilbur said, his voice cutting through the fog that was starting to build in Tommy’s mind. He looked at the screen. Sure enough, the grayed out text was now gone, replaced with a blank text box. 

“Someone must have found the trigger. Hopefully it was your Tommy and Dream. I’m not sure what would happen if someone else managed to get their hands on it.” 

“Either way, it should have only sent the message to Tommy, right?” Tubbo asked.

“I don’t fucking know. I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the console.”

“Probably because you’re a little gremlin child.” Will couldn’t help but make the snide comment. Maybe he just wanted to pretend, if only for a moment that nothing had changed. Maybe he was searching for a way to lighten the mood. He wasn’t sure. 

Either way, the comment earned him a cry of protest. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?!” 

“It means that you are a little gremlin boy. What else would it mean?” Despite his best attempts, he couldn’t quite keep the smile out of his voice.

“Alright, you son of a bitch, you listen here. I could beat your fucking ass in a fight, no questions asked.” Despite the harsh words, Tommy couldn’t help but grin. The friendly banter was familiar to him, and he couldn’t help but be thankful for it. In a world where everything was strange and foreign, it felt nice to have something that stayed consistent. 

“Oh yeah? Prove it”

“Alright. Next time I see you, how about we 1v1? Me versus you.”

“Uh, I don’t think that's a really good idea,” Tubbo interjected.

“What? Why not? I’ve beaten him before, I’ll do it again.” Tommy’s voice was dripping with confidence. He may not have been nearly as strong here as he was back in his home world, but he still knew how to fight. Not to mention, he had spent most of the past week trying to get his strength back. 

“I don’t doubt it, it’s just that fighting someone is generally considered not good here”

“Are you serious? That's so lame! Back at home we used to spar all the time!” 

“Yeah, not here. Unless you’re in a fighting style sport, sparring just isn’t something that you do here” 

“Ughhhh, that’s so dumb.” he grumbled.

“So, uh, what’s the plan now?” Tubbo asked. On the screen, another /msg command was pulled up, ready to be sent. The message section itself was blank, but it was clear that Tubbo was itching to try and communicate with his best friend. 

“We just input the command, right? We swap you back, you guys could go home, and we get our Tommy and Dream back. Boom, problem solved.” Wilbur couldn’t help but feel slightly confused. Hadn’t that been the plan from the start? 

“I uh… I don’t know the command that he used,” Tommy admitted. 

“Fuck.” The three sat in silence, trying to figure out what to do. Tommy couldn’t help but feel like hopelessness starting to drag him down again, pulling him down into the pit of quicksand. 

“What if we brought them to the console? That way they could actually respond and we might be able to come up with some sort of plan?” Tubbo suggested. 

He weighed his options. On one hand, it was the best bet they had. Hell, he was about 99 percent sure that Dream would have left some sort of clue as to what the command was, if only because he enjoyed the thrill of the danger. On the other, who knew what kind of trap Dream had set up. Knowing him, he would have expected them to do exactly this. No. No he couldn’t think like that. This was their one chance. It was his only chance at saving his home, at saving his friends. 

Swallowing his fear, he nodded. “Yeah. Alright, that sounds good.” 

~~~

“What the fuck?! Why is it blinking again?!” The small red light was back, blinking up at the blonde teenager annoyingly. 

“Press the button again?” Dream offered helpfully. 

“What? No! I’m not pressing that fucking button again! You press it if you’re so curious!” he tossed the bow onto the table carelessly, the loud noise making Tubbo flinch. 

Dream grabbed the weapon and looked over it. “Alright, maybe I will. Where did you say it was?” 

“On the grip, right next to the little light. It's really small though, you have to feel it.” 

“Got it!” with a soft click, Dream pressed down on the button. 

Instantly, the robotic voice echoed through Tommy’s mind once more. The voice was cold and metallic, with no emotion whatsoever. It reminded Tommy of pretty much every computer generated voice he had ever heard, only this time, it echoed through his skull. He could feel his teeth vibrating from the sheer volume of it. His eyes shook, causing the world to vibrate and jitter. It reminded him of when the bell had been rung, only this time he was the only one could hear it. 

“Hey Tommy, it's Tubbo. This other Tommy just told me and Wilbur everything that’s been going on. Don’t worry, we’re gonna get you out of there, alright? Apparently the other Dream is going to really fuck everything up if we don’t stop him. And by that I mean he’s going to delete the server and most likely kill all of you and I really don’t want that to happen. So we’re gonna stop it!”

The voice continued for a bit, explaining what the plan was and where he and Dream needed to go, and Tommy did his best to keep track of Tubbo’s directions. “... Anyways, we really miss you man. I swear, we’re gonna figure something out and get you guys home. Yours truly, big T.” The voice stopped, and Tommy blinked. Tears pricked at his eyes.

He didn’t really understand what was going on, but he did understand one thing: there was hope. He might be able to go home. Tubbo and Wilbur were going to bring them home.


	13. Chapter 13

Dream stared at his friend, confusion and worry filling his mind. The teenager had been staring into space for the past minute or so, not responding to either him or Tubbo. Dream hadn’t been too concerned, until he noticed that Tommy was crying. Tears were streaking down Tommy’s face, forging a path on his cheeks. His expression was filled with a mixture of hope and fear, his eyes glazed over, like he was listening to something that no one else could hear. 

“Tommy? Hellooo? You ok?” Dream asked, waving a hand in front of his face. No response. He glanced over at Tubbo, trying to see if he had any ideas. Instead, when Dream made eye contact with him, Tubbo flinched and sank back into his seat, as if trying to disappear. Right. Of course Tubbo was scared of him. Everyone was scared of him. 

“You know I’m not going to hurt you, right?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

The younger brunette stared at him in fear, unsure of how he was supposed to respond. If Dream had said those same words to him a month ago, he would have ran, no questions asked. Now though, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know this man, had no idea what he was like. All he had to go off of was what Tommy had said. 

His eyes darted over towards his spaced out friend. “What did you do to him?” He asked, struggling to keep the tremor out of his voice. He had only stood up to Dream once, and it had resulted in him nearly losing his arm. Slowly, as to not draw attention to himself, he moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. If this went south, then he sure as hell needed to be ready to defend himself. 

“Nothing! I didn’t do anything, I promise” Dream dropped the bow and put his hands up in an attempt to show he meant no harm. He understood why Tubbo was so scared of him, but that didn’t change the fact that it stung. How could it not? Someone who he had thought of as a friend was now trembling before him in fear. 

“Look, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but if you hurt Tommy in any way I will not hesitate to run you through.” Tubbo’s voice shook with fear, despite his best attempts at keeping it steady. 

Seeing the young teenager like this, Dream couldn’t help but be filled with pity and sadness. He was only 16, still just a kid. He should have been worried about homework, or some other small problem. He shouldn’t be stressing over whether or not he was going to live through the day, or who was going to try and hurt him next. It just wasn’t right.

Dream nodded, his hands still raised.“I promise, Tubbo, I didn’t do anything, and I don’t plan on hurting either of you.”

“Tubbo…” A soft voice startled them both. Tommy was now staring at the fallen bow, the tears freely flowing. 

Tubbo’s attention was instantly drawn to his best friend, his eyes filled with overwhelming concern. “Hey man, you ok?” 

Tommy looked up at his friend. A pang of homesickness shot through him. Everything about the boy next to him felt… wrong. He knew that it was still Tubbo, but that didn’t change the fact that it didn’t seem right. He was too tense, too nervous. It was as if at any moment, he could be attacked. It was so different from the laid back attitude of his Tubbo. The one that got excited over the smallest things. The one who casually went around killing people in game for no real reason. Tommy couldn’t help but miss the energetic and fun loving Tubbo from his own world. Still, he was still his friend. 

Without hesitation, Tommy reached over to give his friend a hug. The tears continued to flow as the words of the message replayed in his mind. ‘I swear, we’re gonna figure something out and get you guys out of there. I promise.’ It wasn’t much to go off of, but goddammit what did he have to lose? 

Tubbo couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden hug. “Hey, is everything alright?” 

“Sorry, sorry” Tommy quickly said, backing up and giving his friend space. He frantically wiped the tears off his face and tried to compose himself. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“What the hell was that? You just zoned out, are you sure you’re ok?” Dream asked. 

“I uh, I think I just got a message from Tubbo. Our Tubbo,” he made sure to clarify. “Apparently he’s been working with Wilbur and the other Tommy to try and bring us home…” 

Dream felt his jaw drop. “Wait, really?! You’re kidding!” 

“I swear to you that I am not joking. Trust me, I want to go home as much as you do.”

“How?! What did he say? What do we do?” 

“There’s- There’s a console. Apparently it's like the server console back home, but it's an actual physical computer here. According to Tubbo it has the ability to do some really weird shit.” 

“Like run regular commands?” 

“Yeah, pretty much. Damn, imagine what kinda fucked up shit you could do with that kind of thing…” 

“Uh huh, imagine what kind of fucked up shit this other Dream already did with that thing.” 

“Fuck, you’re right.” 

“So how exactly does this help us get home?” 

“Right, right. I guess that the other Dream figured out how to swap people’s souls across dimensions or something with it.”

Dream’s face lit up as he made the connection. “We could do it too! We could use the command to swap us back and put everything back to normal!” A rush of excitement filled him. Finally, finally they had some direction. They actually had a goal, something to work towards. They had hope. “Where is it? Where can we find it?” 

“See, that's the problem. Actually, there's two problems. One, we don’t know the command. Tubbo was thinking if we could make it to the console, we might be able to communicate with them and figure something out.”

“Wait, what? How would that even work?” 

Tommy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m honestly just hoping that Tubbo knows what he’s doing.”

“Riiight. So what's the other problem?” 

Tommy took a deep breath and tried to find something, anything else to look at. He didn’t want to look Dream or Tubbo in the eyes when he told them the truth. Eventually, his eyes rested on the white, porcelain mask that hung on the wall. The simple smile seemed to bore into his very soul, taunting him in a way. He looked away. “The computer is super far away. Apparently it takes a couple days to reach on foot.” 

“Ok? And?” 

“According to the other Tommy, the other Dream is going to delete the server in a little less than 48 hours, which would most likely result in every single one of us dying a very painful death.” 

Dream let out a low whistle. “Right. So you’re telling me that we have to go and find this super powerful computer that's really far away, try to come up with a plan, and figure out what the right command is within the next 48 hours, or the world will be deleted and we all die.” 

“Yeah pretty much.” 

“Right. Ok, no pressure.” he ran a hand through his hair, already trying to figure out what the best course of action was. “Where exactly is the console?” 

“He said it’s in this room made out of bedrock in the middle of a dark forest, almost directly east of us.”

Dream nodded. “Got it. Tommy, go let George know what's going on. See if he wants to join us. It’d probably be smart to have someone who actually knows what they’re doing with us. I’m going to get together some supplies.” 

“Got it. Tubbo, do you wanna come with us?” Tommy asked, startling the brunette. 

He had been deep in thought, trying to keep up with the conversation. He was confused, but he also didn’t want to ask any questions and risk angering Dream. He shook his head. “I’m good. You guys uh, you’ll need someone to cover for you, right? I can tell Wilbur what's going on…” He was lying, of course. He just didn’t want to spend any more time around Dream. Sure, Tommy trusted him, but that didn’t change the fact that just looking at the man brought back painful memories. 

“Ok, that's probably smart. Make sure he knows that the other Tommy is safe, ok? He’s going to be coming home soon.” 

A slight smile crossed Tubbo’s face. “Alright. I can do that. I’ll uh, I’ll see you guys later then.” He rushed out of the base, running towards L’manberg. 

Dream and Tommy were silent, neither of them mentioning the obvious. If all went according to plan, then they would never see this version of Tubbo again. 

~~~

“Florida?!” Tubbo cried, flabbergasted. “We’re going to Florida? That’s like a 9 hour flight!” All this SMP stuff was making his head spin. First, it was just Tommy and Dream’s disappearance, then it escalated to something much, much worse. His friends’ lives were at stake if they didn’t do anything. He honestly didn’t want to believe Tommy, but something told him that what he’s saying is true.

“Look, I’m used to taking on my problems in person. I can’t just sit in front of this thing- whatever weird gadget this is- and do nothing! We have to go there!” Tommy explained.

“Tommy, what will you tell everyone else? What will you tell your parents? You can’t just prance up to them and go ‘hello dearest parents! As it turns out, I’m not your son, but I’m him from another dimension! Y’know how he plays that video game? It’s that dimension! Anyways, I’m off to Florida to go do a murder! I’ll be home before dinner!’ How do you think that’s gonna go down?” Wilbur said.

“Will, I know what I’m doing! This psychopath is gonna try to kill my friends. I need to save them.” Tommy told them desperately. “If we reach him, we can get to his computer and I can go home!”

“We don’t even know where he lives, Tommy!” Wilbur retaliated. 

“Well, I might.” Tubbo said, nonchalantly.

Wilbur blinked. “You what? You’re not going to hack him, Tubbo-” 

“He isn’t our Dream, Will. This is probably the only chance we have to do this! Lives are at stake!”

“But there’s laws--” Wilbur sighed, pulling on his face in resignation. He still had trouble believing in this. Dimension travel? Souls? A few days ago he’d say they never existed. But, now… “Okay, fine. I can get us three to Florida. Earliest flight I can get us will be at about five-in-the-morning. We find Dream and we…” Wilbur trailed off.

“Kill him.” Tommy gritted out.

“NO!” Wilbur and Tubbo shouted.

“Tommy, we are not going to kill him. We need our Dream and Tommy to come back and send both of you back. If you kill him-” Wilbur explained.

“Okay, fine,” Tommy sighed, cutting off whatever it was Wilbur was about to say. “We won’t kill him. We just need to hold him long enough for him to tell us the command.”

“And what if he refuses to tell us?” 

“Then we make him tell us.”


	14. Chapter 14

“They WHAT?!” Wilbur yelled, wheeling around to stare at the teenager behind him. 

“They uh, they’re going to try and bring our Tommy and Dream back?” Tubbo repeated, taking a step back. “Is that bad…?” Hadn’t this been what Wilbur wanted? For their own Tommy to come home? Why was he acting so aggressive about it? 

“Yes that's bad! Thats really fucking bad! Not Tommy obviously, but Dream?! Tubbo, Dream could come and break the peace treaty. He might start a whole new war, just out of spite. I cant… We can’t do that again. We just don’t have the resources.”

Tubbo paled as he realized what Wilbur was saying. Yes, they might have a chance to bring Tommy home, but at what cost? They would have to go back to living in fear, terrified that at any moment, Dream would come up behind them and try to kill one of them. He took another step back, shaking his head. He couldn’t go back to living like that. He just couldn’t. 

Wilbur walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, crouching slightly so that he was at eye level. “Tubbo, I need you to tell me something, and I need you to tell me the truth. Where are they going?”

Tubbo shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. On one hand, he had promised Tommy that he was going to help him get home. He had given his word. But on the other, he couldn’t go back to living in constant fear. He just couldn’t. “The eastern dark woods…” he muttered, trying to push away the guilt that gnawed at him. He had to do this. For his friends. He had no choice. 

“Got it.” Wilbur stood to full height, his eyes set and determined. “Go get your things together. We’ve got quite the trip ahead of us.”

~~~

“You can’t be serious. This is all you have? Why are there- why the hell do you have so many buckets? How on earth are you going to carry them?” George shook his head as he looked over the meager pile of supplies that Dream had gathered. 

Dream just shrugged as he rolled up the bedroll he had found in one of the chests. “You never know what might happen. I’m just trying to be prepared.” 

“Right. So you decided the best way to be prepared was to pack 3 buckets, but not pack any food or actual fresh water. You don’t even have a flint and steel!” 

A snort of laughter sounded from behind them. Dream turned to see Tommy, snickering to himself quietly. When the teenager noticed that they were looking at him, he wiped the grin off his face and stood up straight, trying to look serious. It didn’t work. 

“You know, you could be actually helping instead of just standing there and laughing,” Dream remarked. 

“Aw, but where's the fun in that? It’s much more entertaining to sit back and watch you struggle.” 

“Oh really? I would love to see you do a better job.” He clipped the bedroll to the base of his pack. 

Tommy stepped forward with a smug grin. “Ok, I will, since I’m just so cool and awesome. First off, you need coal for torches and shit. Second, toss the buckets out. You’re not going to be pulling any epic mlg moves here. That's just not how physics work.” Dream grumbled to himself as he took the buckets out of the pile. 

“Shut up, both of you!” George cried out, bringing the bickering to a halt. “Clearly neither of you have any idea what's going on or what to do. So instead of arguing, why don’t you just listen to me and do what I tell you to do. We’re on a timer, aren’t we?” 

Dream and Tommy looked down guilty. They had forgotten about the 48 hour limit, and had ended up falling back into their carefree habits. “Right, sorry.” Tommy said. 

“Alright, Dream, I want you to go and gather some water. Once you’ve got a bucket full, I want you to boil it and bottle it. We can’t have you getting sick from dirty water. Tommy, go and gather some wheat. We don’t need too much, just enough to make enough bread for if we can’t find any animals. I’m going to go and get the horses saddled.” George’s voice was calm as he explained what each of them was going to do. The other two nodded and quickly rushed out of the room. 

~~~

“Alright I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never rode a horse before. I’ve got no fucking idea what I’m doing,” Tommy admited as he tried to find his balance atop the large animal. The three of them had gathered up all of their materials rather quickly, and were now on their way towards the forest. “Seriously, how the fuck do people do this?”

“By shutting up and not complaining.” Dream seemed to have figured out how to ride his horse pretty quickly, and was now spending his time taunting the younger teenager. 

“Yeah, well maybe if you weren’t so damn annoying, I would have less to complain about.” 

"C'mon, Tommy, hurry up. The sun's setting." George said, while Tommy almost fell off his horse.

The three of them rode across the rough wilderness, as the moon rose slowly along the horizon. This was going to be a long night.

~~~

“We can stop here to make camp for the night,” George said as they came across a small clearing. The three of them had been traveling for hours now, and found themselves in the middle of a birch forest. 

"Eugh, birch. This is literally the worst kind of wood." Dream said jokingly. 

"Agreed." Tommy nodded.

"What? Oh come on, birch isn't that bad." George relatiated as he set up a fire.

"What?" Dream laughed. "George, have you seen these trees?"

"Dream, they're just trees. Plus, we aren't gonna be here for long. We'll keep travelling as soon as the sun rises." George rolled his eyes.

“Ughhhh, really?! But that’s so early!” 

“Tommy, shut up. Stop acting like a child. You’re just lucky that we found a place to stop at all.” George handed both Dream and Tommy a couple of torches. “Here, set these up along the perimeter. The last thing we need is a bunch of mobs trying to kill us while we sleep.” 

Both Dream and Tommy stared at him in shock. 

“What? Do you guys not have mobs in your world?” 

“Wha- No of course we don’t! I didn’t think that they were actually real here, holy shit…” Dream exclaimed. 

“Damn… A world where you don’t have to worry about getting eaten alive in the middle of the night. That honestly sounds really nice.” he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. “Never mind that right now. I need you guys to set up the torches.”

~~~

The sound of a netherite blade slicing through the air echoed across the quiet forest. It had been several hours since they had set up camp, and Dream had long since given up on sleep. The events of the day had played over and over in his mind, making it impossible to close his eyes. And so, he had quietly gotten up and snuck away to a small open area where he could practice.

Over the past week, he had found that practicing sword fighting helped him to calm down. The simple, repetitive motions helped to quiet the intrusive thoughts that continued to plague him. He had started to grow quite reliant on it to stay sane. Maybe, when he finally got home, he would join a fencing class. 

If he got home. No. No he couldn’t think like that. Pessimism wouldn’t get him anyone. He needed to trust Tubbo and Wilbur. They were going to get him and Tommy home. They had to. 

“You know, you’ve really gotten a lot better,” said a voice from behind him. A squeal of surprise was torn from Dream’s throat as he spun around, his sword at the ready. “Pffft, what on earth was that?” George stepped out from the shadows of the trees into the light of the torches that Dream had set up. 

Dream placed a hand on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. “Jesus man, you scared me. What the hell was that about?” 

The shorter man chuckled as he stepped further into the light. “Gotta keep you on your toes. What's the point of learning how to fight if you’re not constantly aware?” He drew his own sword and held it out in the form of a challenge. 

“You are actually the worst,” he said, raising his own sword in response. 

With a grin, George rushed forward in attack. Dream raised his sword to block the incoming strike, allowing his instincts to take over. He had learned that if he simply didn’t think about what he was doing, he often did quite well. And so he let his mind go blank, instead focusing on surroundings. The stars, the leaves, the trees, even the man before him was all taken in as they sparred. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” George asked, most likely hoping to distract his opponent. 

Dream only shrugged as he feigned an attack at his friend's leg, only to come up and create a small cut on his cheek. “Couldn’t sleep. I was hoping that doing some practice would help calm me down.” 

“And? How's your success rate?” 

“Well it was pretty good, until you arrived and scared me half to death.”

“Aww, I didn’t realize compliments scared you so much.” 

“Yes, I’m quite shy.” Dream couldn’t help but grin. 

As the two of them joked back and forth, they continued their little duel. It had been going for a couple minutes now, and they seemed to be at a bit of a stand still. A rush of pride surged through him. In roughly a week, he had gone from completely and totally useless to actually able to defend himself. Now, he just needed to set himself apart. 

His mind began working overtime, analysing every small detail. Quickly, he reached back with his free hand and pulled out a loaded crossbow. George’s face transformed into surprise when he saw the weapon. The bolt flew past his face, only just barely grazing the side of his head.

Dream quickly threw the weapon aside and pressed his advantage. Suddenly, the favor was tipped towards Dream. George was unbalanced, startled by the use of the crossbow. Still, he managed to raise his sword just in time to block another strike. 

With his free hand, Dream reached into one of the pouches around his waist and pulled out a small sphere, roughly the size of a marble. With a slight squeeze, the sphere expanded to the size of a baseball. While George was distracted with blocking the strike towards his face, Dream tossed the sphere behind him. With a crash, the sphere shattered against the ground.

Suddenly, Dream appeared behind George in a shower of purple. With a sweep of his foot, his friend came falling to the ground. With a final motion, he held the sword above his throat, his green eyes bright with exhilaration and delight. 

“Alright alright, you win. I surrender,” George said with a laugh. 

“Did you see that?! That was so cool! Oh my god that was so awesome!” Dream exclaimed as he helped George to his feet. “That was so damn cool!!” he started jumping around the small clearing in excitement. 

“How did you even do that? I’ve never seen someone use a crossbow in the middle of a sword fight before” 

“I’ll be honest, I’ve got no idea. I have no idea what the hell I just did. I just know that it was cool as fuck!” 

He shook his head, chuckling as he watched his friend dance around the area. George had never seen Dream show any sort of emotion before, much this level of excitement. Even though he knew the reasons why, he couldn’t help but feel a bit weirded out by it. Watching the pure joy flash across Dream’s face was strange. Still, it was nice. “You are such a dork” 

He only responded with a wide grin. 

A thought flashed through George’s mind, causing him to frown slightly. Dream stopped his playful jumping and walked over, his eyes now filled with concern. “Hey, you alright?” He asked. “Oh shit, you’re bleeding! Hold on I’ve got a few bandages on me I think…” 

As Dream pulled out a couple white bandages from his bag, George let out a slight chuckle. “Do you even know how to use those?” 

“Uhhh, not really? I’m sure I can figure it out. How hard can it be?” 

He wasn’t impressed. With a roll of his eyes, George held out his hand for the bandages “Here, just let me do it. It doesn’t really hurt, I think it's just a small cut. Probably just needs to be cleaned.” Taking a bottle of water from his bag, he quickly wet the bandage and started to clean the blood from his face. 

Dream pouted. “Well what if I wanted to help?” 

“Then you can go and wash the blood out of these,” George said, tossing him the now stained bandages. “No point in wasting perfectly good bandages because of a small cut.”

He caught them easily, but otherwise didn’t move. “Nope. Not until you tell me whats wrong.

The brunette cursed under his breath. Since when had he been so easy to read? “I uh, I was just thinking about… Stuff,” he waived his hand vaguely. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Dream plopped down onto the grass and patted the ground next to him. “Here, take a seat.”

He sat. 

“Spill.”

“I’m just… Worried, I guess? I mean, in a few days, you’re going to be gone and… the other Dream will be back. I guess I’m just scared about what he's gonna do.”

The smile faded from Dream’s face as he considered what to say. “What was he like?” he asked after a few seconds. “The other me, I mean.”

“He was… Scary. All he cared about was the thrill of the hunt. The mask made it impossible to tell what he was ever thinking, which made it ten times worse. Of course, it only covered his eyes and nose, so that you could still see his grin.” He shuddered. “I watched as he blew up the gates of L’manberg with a massive smile on his face.” 

“So then… why did you follow him in the first place?” 

“I had no choice. When Sapnap and I showed up, he was the only other person here. It was either join him or be left out to die to the mobs. After a while I guess I just didn’t realize how cruel he was. He was a good leader, and super charismatic. Not to mention a really good actor. By the time the war started… I guess I just trusted him, if that makes sense. He had kept me alive ‘till then, so why would anything change?”

Dream nodded. He wasn’t going to pretend like he understood what his friend had gone through, but he could still try and help in his own way. “He taught you sword fighting, how to survive. You felt like you were indebted to him, right?” 

“Yeah… Pretty much. God, its so stupid! I should have been able to realize how messed up he was. Why the hell did I not realize?!” He took off his round sunglasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tight. “I was so fucking stupid.” 

Hesitantly, Dream reached over and placed a hand on his friends back, trying to comfort him. “Hey, that’s not stupid. You’d be surprised at how easily our minds can trick us into thinking we’re doing the right thing. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's not your fault.” A stab of guilt shot through him. He had been the one to add George onto the server. If he had waited a bit, would things have been different? Maybe if he had acted differently on stream, or not sent the declaration of war, maybe things would have turned out different. The other Dream might have turned out to be a decent guy, not someone that people trembled before and feared. 

“I should have been smarter… I should have joined Sapnap when he went off on his own.” 

The weight of George’s words finally sunk in. The other Dream was a monster, a killer. He was the living, breathing version of the mask Dream sometimes wore in his videos. The act of someone who enjoyed the hunt, and nothing more. These past two weeks had been peaceful and calm compared to what everyone had normally lived through, and it was all because the monster was finally gone. But now… now they were about to bring him back. They were about to bring everyone’s worst nightmare back to life. 

What choice did they have? It was either that, or let the entire world get destroyed. Either way, the other Dream was about to ruin people’s lives. He sighed. “It's going to be alright, ok? We’ll figure something out, I promise. You’re not going to go back to living like that. I promise.” 

Now, it was just a matter of keeping that promise.


	15. Chapter 15

As the trio walked across the strangely busy yet quiet airport, Tommy couldn't help but stare at the sight around him. The odd off-white tiled floors looked like quartz, but were just different enough to remind him that he wasn’t from this world. The shining tubes on the ceiling made him squint -- he wasn’t used to light being this intense. With each person he passed, his heart skipped another beat. Everyone was wearing masks. Much to Tommy’s dismay, so was he.

Such irony. All of them strangers, he couldn't recognise any of them. He was used to a gritty battlefield along bloodied dirt. He was used to healing potions, netherite swords and cries of war. Every single one of these people could hurt him. No-one could be trusted. He remembered the darkened stairwell, the sign of betrayal. 

He didn't have a weapon on him, nothing to defend himself with. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. His knuckles turned white as he held onto three wooden pencils, each one sharp enough to pierce skin. 

“Tommy, it’s alright.” Tommy jumped as Wilbur broke the silence. “No one’s going to hurt you.”

Wilbur’s confidence in his words only made Tommy more anxious. His knuckles ached as he tightened his grip on his makeshift weapons. The airport was silent, yet stirring. Only the faint hum of machines or the occasional word or two could reach Tommy’s ears. The cold, metal seat pressing against his back made things even more uncomfortable. Tubbo shot some caring glances at him but didn’t say anything. 

Wilbur stood up and stretched with a yawn. “Alright, I’m gonna go grab some food. Do you guys want anything?” 

Numbly, Tommy shook his head. His stomach was so tight and knotted from adrenaline and fear, he wasn’t sure he could eat anything, even if he tried. 

“Maybe a bagel or something, I dunno.” Tubbo’s voice was quiet and subdued as he let out another yawn. “Here, let me grab my wallet”

“No no no, don’t worry about it. I can cover the cost of a bagel.”

“Are you sure…? You’re already paying for all of our plane tickets. You shouldn’t have to pay for my breakfast as well”

Wilbur shook his head. “Tubbo, it's fine. You two stay here, I’ll be right back.” As he walked away, he adjusted the cloth mask that covered half his face. A shudder ran up Tommy’s spine at the sight of it. 

Everywhere he looked, he saw masks staring back at him. He hated it. It brought back too many painful memories of the porcelain mask that haunted his every step. He had no way of telling what anyone was thinking, or what their intentions were. 

A flash of green caught the corner of his eye. 

No, no. That can’t be. No, no- please-

He felt like he was back in battle. He heard the sound of arrows flying past, swords being crashed together and the screams and shouts of war and agony. 

“Hey man, you ok?” Tubbo’s voice felt miles away. Tommy could barely hear him over the sound of the blood rushing in his ears. 

The man in the green jacket turned, revealing a white mask covering the lower half of his face. Tommy’s mind went blank. He needed to run, to escape, to hide.

The words of his general repeated like a broken record in his mind. “If you can’t fight, you run. Run as far away as you possibly can and hide. One of us will come and find you. Having you alive is better than having you a martyr.” Wilbur had looked Tommy directly in the eyes when he’d given that command. Tommy had thought his eyes were looking straight into his soul.

He wasn’t exactly sure what happened next. One moment, he was sitting next to Tubbo, the next, he was sprinting through the crowds, pushing and shoving past the exhausted people. He didn’t know where he was going, or what he was even doing -- all he knew was that he needed to get as far away as possible. 

He ran until he couldn’t run any farther. He tried to get a good look at his surroundings now that the adrenaline wasn’t blinding him. More of those lights. More of those tiles. He looked down at his hand -- the pencils were gone. He must have dropped them. Stupid. Now he was defenseless. His mind raced, trying to think of something to do, something to use, somewhere to go. He had nothing.And so, he hid. He curled up into a small ball in a corner, tucked away from the crowds of people. His arms were wrapped around his head protectively, his knuckles white. Tommy blinked away his tears as he repeated Wilbur’s words to himself as a mantra of sorts. “One of us will come and find you.” 

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there in the corner, shaking and rocking back and forth. He wasn’t sure how long he had been trapped inside his own thoughts, unable to escape, when a familiar voice pierced through them and dragged him back into reality. 

“Tommy…? Are you ok?”

He frantically wiped away his tears as he turned to meet Tubbo’s gaze. The boy was standing over him with a hand tentatively reaching out to him. His eyes reflected a unique caution and concern, the type that someone would have as they approached a wild animal.

Tommy’s throat tightened as his situation began to set in. Wilbur wasn’t going to save him -- not his Wilbur, at least. He couldn’t save him. There was no way that Wilbur could reach him in this world. Tommy ripped his gaze away. He couldn’t bear to make eye contact, knowing what he had done. The burning hot tears streaming down his face didn’t help either.

He was suffocating, he couldn’t breathe. His hands desperately tore at the cloth mask that covered his face, trying to get rid of it. When it was finally gone, he took a shuddering breath. Tubbo sat himself down next to him and the two sat in silence for a bit, trying to savor the peace for as long as possible.

“I thought I saw him…” Tommy choked out, trying to offer an explanation for his strange behavior. 

Tubbo turned to face him, tilting his head. “What was it like? Living through it all…?” he asked. “Maybe talking about it could help you feel better. And I could help if you wanted.”

“It was a nightmare,” Tommy muttered. “I-I watched as you nearly lost your fucking arm… I was forced to watch as Wilbur nearly went blind from a poison attack. I watched as Fundy got half of his face blown to bits, only for it to grow back in front of my very eyes as he made himself unbelievably sick from drinking so many health and regen pots. It was a hellscape…”

Stories of the past month came pouring out. He should stop. Tubbo didn’t need to know this much. Why was he not stopping? What the hell was wrong with him? A choked sob bubbled to the surface. He could still hear the screams of his friends, the smell of blood in the air. He could feel the heat from the burning forest against his skin, the vibrations in his feet as distant explosions were set off. The sensation of fear wrapped around him like a blanket, its familiarity comforting in a strange way. 

“Christ…” his friend muttered. He didn’t know what else to say or do. Hesitantly, he reached out and gave Tommy a hug, trying his best not to startle him. 

Tommy jumped ever so slightly, but his breathing calmed as he realized what was going on. He was safe. Tubbo was with him, and he was safe. When was the last time he felt safe? The last time someone had helped him feel like it was going to be ok? Before the war, perhaps? Maybe even earlier? He couldn’t remember. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was safe. He was going to be ok. 

~~~

“Oh good, I was starting to get worried. Where were you guys?” Wilbur asked the two teenagers as they sat down at the gate. His eyes widened at the sight of the tear stains on Tommy’s face, and he quickly glanced over to Tubbo, trying to ask a silent question. 

Tubbo only shook his head and shrugged as he began to eat his bagel. The message was clear enough: ‘I’ll tell you later.’ 

A loud electrical sound pierced through the silence and Tommy’s body tensed in anticipation. “The plane is now boarding. Please line up with your designated boarding groups. Thank you for your time.”

The voice reminded Tommy of the bell back home, signifying the arrival of a new person. He instinctually looked around for spawn but then realized he wasn’t in his home anymore. He quickly followed Wilbur, Tubbo trailing swiftly behind him. After about half an hour of waiting, he got to the airplane. 

He didn’t expect the plane to be this loud. Covering his ears, Tommy began to climb the steps into the mechanical cylinder. The tight, cramped space reminded him of the underground bunker that he had built back home. On one hand, the familiarity of it was comforting. On the other, he had despised that bunker. Sure, he had been the one to build it, but it was claustrophobic and suffocating, and was far too similar to the final control room that Eret had built. 

He took a deep breath as he stared at the long rows of seats, his hands once more clutching a pencil. The lead had snapped off when he had dropped it, but holding onto it still helped to calm his nerves. It was the closest thing to a weapon that he had, and he wasn’t going to be giving it up any time soon. 

The three of them made their way down the long tunnel, eventually stopping at a row that was roughly in the middle of the plane. 

“Hey Tommy, do you want the window seat?” Wilbur asked, stepping back so that Tommy could climb in. 

“What? But I wanted the window seat!” Tubbo complained

“Yeah, well, it's his first time being on a plane. You can get the window seat on the flight back.” 

Tommy was already sitting in his seat, furrowing his brow at Tubbo and Wilbur’s bickering. He didn’t exactly understand what it was that they were arguing about, but it didn’t seem all that serious. Rolling his eyes, he set his small backpack at his feet.

He didn’t have any other luggage with him, which Tubbo and Wilbur had both found confusing for some reason. Tommy still wasn’t sure why. Back home, he had learned pretty quickly to always pack light. After all, mostly everything you needed could be scavenged or found. Food wasn’t too hard to come by, and water could easily be boiled and purified. The only things that were strictly necessary were clothes, some tools, and maybe a bedroll if you were lucky. Needless to say, he had also been shocked when he had seen how much luggage his friends both had. In addition to their backpacks, each one of them had brought a “small” suitcase. Tommy actually thought they were rather large. Something like that would have never been necessary back home. 

A captain started speaking over the plane’s speakers, going over flight information and what to do in case of a crash. Tommy listened intently, making a mental note of every emergency exit the flight attendants gestured to.

The plane took off. Tommy gripped the armrests of his seat tightly and turned to face Tubbo. “So… what do we do now?”

Tubbo shrugged. “Uhh, wait, I guess. I dunno, usually I just listen to music.”

“You can do that? Without a jukebox?” Tommy’s eyes lit up. “How?”

For the next few minutes, Tubbo did his best to teach Tommy how to use headphones and a phone. Tommy watched his every move, in total awe. As soon as he could, he turned on his phone and started looking through the apps that his counterpart had downloaded. Most of them were meaningless to him -- whatever a “Twitter” was, he couldn’t be bothered to use it.

There -- Spotify. That was the one Tubbo told him had music on it. Tommy put in the earbuds and tapped on a random playlist. As long as he was listening to something, he didn’t care what it was. He glanced out the small window, electronic tones playing in his ears. If only he was outside instead of in this cramped metal cylinder. He sighed. All he could do now was wait.

~~~

The next nine hours passed by rather uneventfully. Both Tubbo and Wilbur had passed out almost the moment that they had sat down, and didn’t wake up until they had landed. Tommy on the other hand, was far too tense and nervous for sleep. The music helped him stay calm, but not much. His eyes were constantly darting around the small space, trying to figure out if any of the strangers surrounding him had ill intent. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t find it in himself to close his eyes. 

When the three of them finally stepped off the plane, Tommy nearly started crying with relief. Being in the air had been a terrifying experience, filled with tension and fear. Each bump of turbulence brought back vivid memories of hiding out in the bunker as explosions shook the walls around him. Memories of being huddled together, trying to wait out the worst of the damage. Being back on solid ground helped to calm him somewhat, but adrenaline still coursed through his veins.

He jumped. His phone was vibrating. An incoming call. He glanced down and couldn’t help but grimace when he saw that it was from his Dad. His parents, even though they might not have been his real family, had shown him nothing but kindness and care since he had arrived, and this was how he chose to repay them? By running off to a different country at the dead of night? A tendril of guilt ran through him as he declined the call. He promised himself that he would explain everything to him later.

He didn’t speak as the three of them drove through the strange city. He didn’t say a word as they pulled into the hotel parking lot and went up to their rooms. He answered Tubbo’s and Wilbur’s questions with nothing more than a simple nod or a shake of the head, occasionally throwing in a tired “hmm.” As soon as they got to the hotel room, Tommy felt the adrenaline wear off and was immediately hit by a wave of exhaustion. He tossed his bag to the side and collapsed face first into the hotel bed.

Tubbo and Wilbur would tiptoe around the room and speak to each other only in whispers, as if trying not to wake Tommy up. It didn’t work, of course. Tommy had trained himself to notice even the smallest of noises during the revolution, and that habit hadn’t even begun to wear off. He only glanced up at the sound of the door opening and closing, curious as to whether or not he was alone. To his surprise, Tubbo was sitting at the small desk, his computer open.

Tubbo turned to him and knit his brow. “Hey man, I’ve got a question.” 

“Hm?” 

“If life was so…” Tubbo spent a moment trying to choose his next words. “...terrible in your world, why do you want to go back so much?” 

Tommy thought for a moment. Why did he want to go back? His home was filled with war and pain constantly, and he couldn’t remember the last time he wasn’t constantly fearing for his life. “Same reason I fought the war in the first place, I guess,” He decided. “It’s still my home, no matter how fucked up it might be. I’ve got a family there, people that I care for. I may have gone through hell and back, but I did it for a reason. I’m not going to abandon them when they need me most. And besides, your Tommy is still in there. From what I’ve heard of him, I doubt he could last a day in there without dropping a sword on his own foot.”

Tubbo laughed, and Tommy grinned. This was how it was supposed to be, he thought to himself. No wars, no betrayals, no constant fear. His heart ached. Even though he was stuck here, at least he had a friend to be stuck with.


	16. Chapter 16

The click of his mechanical keyboard almost hypnotized Sapnap as he began coding his latest Minecraft plugin. He had figured that Dream wouldn’t be able to work much when he got back from wherever he had vanished to, so starting on the next project on his to-do list seemed like a good idea. That way, Dream could focus on recovering.

Sapnap sighed and took off his headset. He needed a break. His mind was thinking a million miles a minute, and his fingers twitched, aching to type something more but not having anything to type. With a few clicks, he opened his Minecraft launcher and logged into the Dream SMP.

Right. Dream.

Dream had only talked to him once since his return a couple days ago. He figured it was nothing - he was probably resting. That’s what he tried to tell himself. Recovering from… whatever it was that he’d done.

Gentle piano music turned him away from his thoughts and towards his computer monitor. Minecraft, that’s what he was doing. He maneuvered his avatar around a bit, looking to see if any of his friends were on the server. The only other person online was Tubbo. He shot him a message.

Sapnap: hey tubbo wanna vc

Tubbo_: sure spanpa one second

An electronic chime and the voice of a young British boy came through his headphones. “Hello?”

“Hey Tubbo. You doin’ alright with Tommy back?”

Tubbo didn’t respond for a second. It wasn’t long, but it was long enough to make Sapnap worry. “Um, yea, everything’s been great, y’know? He’s been getting situated. Again. Resituated. Because he was situated before. And he’s situating himself again.”

He had paused again. “Tubbo, you don’t sound too sure about that, are you sure everything’s good? I know it’s been stressful with people on Twitter asking about everything and-”

“Yeah! Yeah, everything’s fine!” Tubbo interjected.

“It really doesn’t sound like it-”

“Yeah!” Tubbo’s voice was a bit strained now, almost as if he was faking calmness. “No, nothing to worry about! It’s all been perfectly fine and dandy over here! What about you? How’ve you been?”

Sapnap thought for a second. “Gonna be honest, not that great. Dream and I have only talked once since he got back, and I’ve been kinda worried. I’ve messaged him a bunch since then, and--”

He heard Tubbo wince through Discord. “Oh, yeah, Dream! I would be worried too, yeah! Worried about Dream!”

He sighed. “Okay, cut the shit. Obviously you’re stressed about something, and we’re in the same boat here, so you don’t have to avoid talking about it with me.”

“That’s actually really interesting that you mention that, Sapnap, because if I did explain it to you, I’m not really sure how you’d react.”

“Try me.”

“Umm…” Tubbo sighed in resignation. “So Tommy and Dream aren’t real.” He paused. “Well, they’re real, but they’re not like… our Tommy and Dream. The ones we know. Y’know how we’re doing the whole war thing on the SMP? With L’Manburg and all that? Right, so, the Tommy and Dream in our world right now, they’re the ones that lived through it, and it was a lot more intense on their end. And right now, our Tommy and Dream are stuck in the SMP, which according to Tommy- the one that’s here, I mean- isn’t great for them, since death is permanent there and-”

“Wait, slow down, what?”

“SMP. Real. Dream is evil by the way, Tommy and Wilbur and I are in Florida right now to track him down. The evil Dream. Our Dream isn’t evil, but the one that’s here right now is. Had to convince Tommy not to kill him with a pencil.”

“What?” Sapnap sputtered. “Hold on, let me make sure I’m hearing you right. The SMP war is real, and Tommy and Dream are stuck in it, and the Tommy and Dream that are here are evil?”

“No, it’s just Dream that’s evil. Tommy is good. They’re both from the SMP, though. I could probably ask Tommy if he wanted to talk to you about it- hey Tommy!” Tubbo’s voice became distant as he left his mic, presumably to track Tommy down.

Sapnap was still in shock. His friends’ bullshit excuse for a Hamilton roleplay had ended up having actual consequences. And holy shit, this other Tommy was probably traumatized as hell.

Tubbo’s voice faded back in. “-no, he’s chill, Tommy, it’s all good. Even if he wanted to… what was it you said?”

“Burn me to a fucking crisp?”

“Right, that. Well, we’re nowhere near him. And he can’t kill you through Discord, so it’s all good, yeah?”

Tommy - the other Tommy - sighed. “Right. Yeah. Just… stay here.”

Sapnap cleared his throat. “Uhh, hey, Tommy. You uh… doin’ okay?”

The kid laughed at Sapnap’s awkwardness. “Gonna be entirely honest, not really. Thank fuck, though, you sound a lot less murderous than I expected.”

“... is that a compliment?”

“Well… I think so? I’m not quite sure.”

“Okay, well… thanks. I’m glad.”

A pause. Sapnap spoke up. “Is the me that you know in the SMP really that… I dunno, scary?”

“Fuckin’ terrifying. One of the best fighters- well, besides…” Tommy trailed off. “Anyways. Glad you’re not out to get me. Tubbo filled you in, yeah?”

“All I got was that Dream is evil.”

“Good enough. Listen, I have a bit of a favor to ask.”

Sapnap shrugged and grinned. “Ask away.”

“There’s a way to send messages to people that are inside the SMP. I thought that only Dream could do it, but Tubbo was able to send a few messages, too. I was wondering if you could send a message for me.”

~~~

Somewhere in a birch forest, a teen yelped in shock. “Oh for fucks sake!” He had known the voice would be coming as soon as he saw the flashing red light, but it still caught him off guard. 

Dream whipped around. “Tommy? You good?”

Tommy didn’t respond. He couldn’t. The stupid robot voice was talking to him again. He just held up a finger to Dream, hoping to signal that he needed to ‘hold the fuck on, I’m listening to the robot.’

With a sound not unlike that of a radio turning on, the voice began. “Hey Tommy. It’s me, Tommy. Just letting you know that Sapnap is about to send a message to your Dream, so if he spaces out for a bit, you know what’s up. By the way, I really like your taste in music. Tubbo taught me how to listen to it on your phone, and I thought I would let you know. Great minds think alike and all that. Anyways, Sapnap is gonna send that message soon. Good luck, Lieutenant.”

The voice turned off with an electronic click and he blinked. He hadn’t expected to hear from the other version of himself this soon, much less did he expect to hear from him at all. It was strange. This other Tommy was somehow so familiar to him and a complete stranger at the same time. He tried not to think about the many ways the other Tommy was likely screwing up his phone.

“Tommy, you good?” Dream asked again.

“Oh, right. Yeah, you’re getting a message from Sapnap soon. Other Tommy just messaged me to let me know.”

Dream’s eyes lit up. “That’s great! Any idea when it-” Tommy couldn’t help but laugh as he pressed the small button on the grip of his bow. 

Watching Dream listen to his message creeped Tommy out a bit. Dream was only half there. His eyes were glazed over, his body almost frozen in place as he listened attentively. Almost as soon as it had started, Dream was back to normal again.

“So, what was the message about, Dream?”

“Nothin’ much, just ‘I miss you’ and stuff like that. Don’t worry about it.” Dream turned around and continued walking. “Come on, we’ve got more ground to cover.” Luckily for him, Dream had turned just in time to hide the tears streaming down his face. He pulled his newly acquired notebook out of his pocket and flipped to the first page, trying his best to keep his balance on the back of the horse as he read. 

_To Dream._

_Hey man, I miss you! I was kinda worried about why you weren’t responding to me on Discord, but Tubbo and Tommy told me about the whole “Evil Dream” situation._

_Hopefully you and Tommy are doing okay. I don’t know what sorts of stuff has happened to you guys in there but from what I’ve heard from the other Tommy, it can’t have been that great. Apparently, the me in there does a bunch of murder and shit. So that sucks._

_But hey! You’re headed to the console! That’s something! The gang and I should be able to help you out from there. We all miss you guys so much._

_Once we figure out the command to switch you guys back, then you and Tommy are gonna be out of there faster than you can say ‘Kissing the homies goodnight.’_

_Sorry, that was a joke. Lightening the mood. I can’t think of anything else to write other than “don’t die.” So don’t die._

_Sapnap_

~~~

“So, what exactly are we even looking for?” George asked, aimlessly swinging his sword by his side as he led his horse through the dense woods.

“A bunch of bedrock ‘n’ shit,” Tommy shrugged. 

“Really, Tommy? Gosh, I had no idea!” George put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder in mocking revelry. “That helps so much. Tommy, have I told you how helpful you have been lately? I feel like I don’t say it enough! Wow, you’re just oh-so smart with your otherworldly knowledge. If only I could be as smart as you, someday, but--” 

Tommy laughed. “Alright, bitch boy. You’re just jealous that you didn’t get to hear the robot voice.” He retorted, shrugging George’s hand away. 

“I am not!” George sputtered. “I’m actually rather happy that I don’t have to listen to some creepy disembodied voice.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Gogy.” Tommy smirked, turning his head to ignore George’s puzzled expression. “Hey Dream, are you sure that there aren’t any earbuds or anything I could use? I’m sick of hearing this guy talk.” 

Dream sighed. “Tommy, if I had earbuds on me, I would have them in twenty-four seven so I wouldn’t have to listen to you complaining constantly.” Dream was a bit farther away from George and Tommy, glancing behind trees and searching around. “Are you two seriously just gonna keep bickering, or are you actually gonna help me look?” 

“We are helping! You’re just being a whiny bitch!” Tommy called back. He knew he was being a brat, but he was exhausted from traveling all day. He had been woken up at the crack of dawn and had been traveling non-stop ever since. The sun had set almost an hour ago, and they were showing no signs of stopping. He understood why, in fact he supported the group's choice to keep going. But that didn’t change the fact that he was tired and grumpy and just all around not in the best mood. 

“Yeah, well, at least I’m not the one acting like a 3 year old,” Dream retorted, not once actually looking behind him at his two friends. He was too busy scanning the dark woods, trying to find any hint of the bedrock room that had been described to him. 

An arrow whizzed past him, only missing his ear by an inch or so. Dream cursed loudly as he jumped out of the way and wielded his own crossbow. Through the leaves of the forest, he could just barely make out a dirty white figure wielding a bow. With a steady hand, he raised the crossbow, aiming the bolt directly at the head of the skeleton. With a deep breath, he pulled the trigger. 

The arrow soared through the air, hitting his target directly in the skull. The force of the bolt caused the head to fall onto the ground, making the rest of the skeleton collapse into nothing but a simple pile of bones. Slowly, he made his way over and nudged the pile with the toe of his boot. 

He couldn’t help but shudder at the sight. Sure, he had known that there were mobs in this world, and had even fought a few during the journey here, but something about the skeleton felt… different. Perhaps it was the fact that he was staring at a pile of human bones, he wasn’t sure. The remains at his feet were coated in dirt, not unlike the pictures of ancient bones he had seen online. 

“Hey Dream! You alright?” George called out.

“Yeah, I’m good. Just a skeleton, nothing to worry about.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Tommy hooked the reins he was holding onto a tree branch and jogged over to Dream, curious as to what was left behind. He gasped in shock when he saw the pile of human remains. “Jesus christ! That’s… that’s so weird!” he kneeled down and gently poked the skull.

“Isn’t that what you said about the zombie? And the creeper?” George asked as he made his way over to them. 

“Well, yeah, but this is different! Its actual fucking bones! The zombie and creeper were just fictional. Skeletons actually fucking exsist!” 

“I mean, he’s not wrong. It was super freaking creepy”

“God, I wish I had my phone on me. Imagine how much clout you could get on twitter from a picture of this.” Tommy held one of the ribs in his hands and used it to draw a smiley face in the dirt. “Hey Dream, look, it's you!” he said with a laugh, turning the dusty smiley face into Dream’s signature blob creature. 

“You would get accused of photoshop and canceled. Twitter is a scary place. Also, that looks nothing like me. The smile needs to be bigger,” Dream replied as he grabbed a nearby twig and widened the simple smile. 

“Oh fuck off, what do you know?” 

“I’m literally the one who designed it. I think I know what my own icon looks like. I’ve also spent the past two weeks staring at because of that god damned mask.” He pulled the porcelain mask out of his bag and stared at it.

Tommy glanced over, surprised that Dream even had the mask with him. “Why do you still have that thing? It’s fucking creepy” 

Dream sat and crossed his legs, laying the mask out in front of him. The stark white made was slightly overwhelming, and it caused his eyes to ache. Next to the dirty surface of the bones, the color looked unnatural, and slightly eerie. He hated it. 

“I’ve been trying to get rid of it. I think it might be enchanted with unbreaking or something…” The blinding white of the material made it difficult to tell, but sure enough, a very faint purple shimmer bounced off of a series of ingrained runes. 

“Seriously? Why the fuck would he do that?” 

“Because it was a pain to make, that's why,” George said from behind them, making them both jump slightly. “Not to mention finding the resources was a nightmare all on its own.” 

“You’re talking as if you made it” 

“That's because I did. Sapnap and I crafted it for the other Dream when he first showed up.”

Dream was silent for a moment, before handing the mask to George. “If you made it, then you must know the best way to break it, right?” 

Hesitantly, he took the mask and stared into the blank, emotionless smile. Part of him hated the idea of destroying something he had worked so hard on. But on the other, he had come to despise everything that the mask stood for. It was a disguise, used to cover the crimes that the other dream had committed. The crimes that George had helped with. 

He placed the mask on a nearby rock and drew his sword. In one, swift motion, he brought down the blade, splitting the mask cleanly down the center. “I’ll let you decide what you want to do with these,” he said to Dream, sheathing his sword once more. 

Dream and Tommy stared at him in awe. Neither of them actually expected him to break the mask, and the fact that he did was extremely impressive. Dream stood and walked over to George and picked up the two halves. With a grin, he chucked the two pieces as far as he possibly could into the woods. 

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he watched them disappear. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The one part of the old Dream that had refused to leave him alone was now gone. The sadistic, cold, emotionless smile was gone. It wouldn’t be able to plague him anymore.

Tommy let out a gasp as he stared into the dark treeline. “Holy shit! Guys, guys I think that's it! Holy fuck we found it!” 

They both whipped around, staring into the darkness. Sure enough, just barely visible through the trees, a small building could be seen, completely built from dark stone. Tommy was already running towards it, his horse and bag forgotten. 

The building was only a couple meters wide, with no entrances or windows other than a single wooden door. He threw the door open and rushed inside. The interior of the building was nothing special. It was void of furniture, save for a single table and chair. The table was littered with papers and quills, each paper filled to the brim with notes. 

Tommy didn’t spare a glance at the papers as he stormed inside, making a beeline for the one other object at the table. A computer. The setup was nothing to scoff at, and was in fact rather impressive. The pc had several monitors, a mechanical keyboard, and what seemed to be a high quality mouse. Of course, he didn’t care about any of that. All he cared about was what the computer had to offer. 

Throwing the chair aside, he reached behind the monitor to turn it on. The screen lit up, revealing what looked to be a console of sorts. Past commands into the console scrolled past, including a command that had yet to be activated. The command was nothing special, just another ‘/msg’ command. 

The message read ‘hey tommy! I’m not quite sure how this works, but once you get to the console, try typing something into it. Maybe we’ll be able to see it.’ 

Tommy bit back a sob as he read the message, already typing. This was it. Finally, he was going to be able to talk with Tubbo again. He had a link to his home.

He didn’t bother inputting a command, instead just typing straight into the console. He didn’t know much about coding or how minecraft servers worked, but he knew that any message without a command would still display. 

His fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed out a simple message. ‘Hello?’ 

Holding his breath, he pressed enter. 

Almost instantly, the console updated with a new log. Tears began to fall into the teenagers lap as he stared at the simple message. 

‘Hey man, it’s good to talk to you again! I missed you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wholesome friendship moments? Hell yeah wholesome friendship moments :D  
> Also the first bit was written out by @rivy on tumblr! So please go send her love!


	17. Chapter 17

Zombies groaned, skeletons rattled, and spiders hissed, but Dream wasn’t focused on any of it as he typed furiously into the night. The only thing visible in the room was Dream’s sullen face, illuminated by the computer monitor in front of him. He rubbed at his eyes and sighed. It was just past midnight, but he couldn’t exactly go to sleep. He needed to figure out the command, to piece together the clues left behind.

When he had first stepped into the small, bedrock enclosed room earlier today, he had been shocked to find Tommy already sitting at the table, typing away at the computer. His computer. It was an exact replica of his pc back home, down to the smallest detail. Hell, it even had the stickers that he had used as decoration. However, he had made sure not to let his shock show. He could see the tears on Tommy’s face as he stared at the bright monitor, and could easily figure out what was going on. Instead, he had chosen to start looking through the piles of various notes and papers that had been left behind. 

In his attempts to organize them, he had discovered 3 distinct handwritings. Two out of the three were easily identifiable. One of them was clearly the other Dreams, the neat and tidy eerily similar to his own. Tommy had claimed the second one as similar to his own, meaning it must have belonged to the other Tommy. The third however, none of them had any idea. The letters were all bunched together, almost like cursive, with each letter accented with unnecessary flourishes. It was pretty, sure, but it was also a pain to read. 

When they had asked the other Tommy who the third handwriting could belong to, they were only met with confusion. ‘It might be Dream’s test subject. Knowing him, he probably told whoever it was where the console is, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to activate it.’ 

George had nodded. “I wouldn’t put it past him. That does sound like something he would do.”

Dream felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it. The knowledge that the other him had gone out of his way to taunt an innocent person, dangling the only way home in front of their faces, just barely out of reach. It was sadistic, cruel, insane-

A voice cut through his thoughts. “Dude, you really need to go to sleep,” Tommy said as he shut the door behind him. “You aren’t going to figure anything out if you’re passing out from sleep deprivation.”

“Says the one who was just out training,” Dream grumbled in response. He knew that Tommy was right, he needed to try and at least get some sleep, but he couldn’t. Not while he needed to figure out the command. They were on a timer, racing against the clock. He couldn’t be wasting time with sleep.

“Weren’t you up all night last night? You’re hardly one to talk.”

“Wha- How did you know about that? I thought you were asleep!” 

“I woke up to find you and George gone and a zombie trying to bite my face off.” His voice held no hint of sarcasm or humor. 

Dream stared at him in shock. “What?! Why the hell didn’t you call for help?!” 

The teenager shrugged. “I mean, I took care of it pretty easily. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“So you’re telling me that you woke up to a zombie attacking you, you killed it, and then just went back to sleep.”

“Yeah, pretty much” A grin slowly made its way onto Tommy’s face. “It was pretty cool though, I must admit.” 

“I don’t care how cool it was, it was also probably really dangerous and stupid!” 

“You’re the ones that left the 16 year old completely unguarded. I don’t know why you’re getting upset at me for this. What were you two even doing anyways?”

Dream rolled his eyes and turned back to the computer monitor, once more trying to access any of his old programs or files. Nothing. “Sparring session, which I totally won, by the way.” He was still extremely proud of his victory from the night before. 

“Huh. I guess that explains the cut on George’s face.”

He was silent as he began to think about the conversation him and George had had after their small duel. He had made a promise, and he still had no idea how on earth he was supposed to keep it. “Yeah… Tommy, I need your help with something,” He said. Perhaps the teenager would be able to see some way out of the desperate situation they were in. 

“Huh? Whats up?”

“... We need to do something about the other Dream.” his voice was quiet, only just barely audible. It was filled with sadness and hopelessness, as though the thought of leaving this world to deal with the monster that was his alter ego was too much to bear. “We can’t let him come back. Everyone here… I don’t think they would be able to handle it.” 

The teenager was silent as he pondered over Dream’s words. He knew that they were true, the hellish stories from Tubbo and George confirmed it. The only problem was, it wasn’t as if they had an option. If they didn’t bring the other Dream back, he would end up deleting the server and killing them all. But if they did, he would just end up making everyone’s lives miserable. They had no real way of winning. Everyone would either die, or live the rest of their lives in fear. He would always have the upper hand, until the day he… 

A thought crossed Tommy’s mind. It was a dark, morbid thought, but it was the best idea he had. “What if I killed him after you swapped?”

“Wh-what? No! Absolutely not! Do you have any idea what that would do to your mental health?!” Dream cried out as he spun around to stare at his friend. Sure, on paper the idea seemed good. It was the easiest and most efficient way of making sure that his alter-ego never hurt anyone again. However, he also wasn’t about to let a 16 year old deal with the after-effects of taking another human being's life. He had read enough books and seen enough movies to know just how much that could fuck with someone’s mind. 

“Yeah… Yeah I know. But what other option do we have?” Tommy leaned against the far wall of the room and slid down until he was sitting on the ground. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, trying to figure out another solution. Nothing came to mind. “You swap, and then I can stab him or some shit. As soon as I’m sure he’s dead I’ll swap too.”

“No. No way am I letting you do that. We can have George do it, he’s more used to fighting and bloodshed. You’re just a-”

“Dream, shut the fuck up. I know, I’m 16. But I’m not a child, so stop fucking treating me like one. I can do this.” His eyes were set and determined, and it was clear that he wasn’t going to be talked out of it. “Besides. My bow is left handed. No one else is gonna be able to use it. I’m the best bet.” 

The door clicked as George stepped inside the small room. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear, and I think you’re both right. Tommy’s got the right idea, killing the original Dream is the only way we’ll ever truly be free from him. But you also shouldn’t be the one to do it Tommy. You’re still young and I-”

He jumped to his feet and brought himself to his full height, now towering over George. “Jesus Christ, I’m not a child! I can do this, ok?! You asked for a solution, and I gave you one. Now just let me help.”

Both Dream and George raised their hands in defense. It was obvious that Tommy wasn’t going to accept no for an answer. They exchanged glances. George let out a sigh. “Fine. If you really think that you can do it, then I’m not going to stop you,” he said as he opened the door to step back outside. “However, if you end up not being able to pull it off, I’m going to be making the killing blow.” 

Dream dragged a hand down his face as he watched George walk out. “Alright. You know what, it's too late for this shit. I’m tired. We can talk about this more tomorrow morning, got it? Don’t think for a moment that I’m going to be letting you do this.” He stood from the chair and moved towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning Tommy. Try to get some sleep.”

“Yeah… alright… I’ll see you later.” The moment that Dream had stepped out of the building, Tommy rushed towards the computer. As he sat down, his hands were already typing out a message. 

‘Hey, other Tommy. You think we could maybe chat for a sec? I have a plan.’

~~~

“Dream,” a familiar voice boomed from the forest outside, cutting through the silence. “I didn’t think you would go running off on us. How about we have a little _chat_ , friend?” The voice was calm and steady, filled with a steely determination. A shiver ran down Tommy’s spine as he recognized the distinctive tone. Wilbur. 

The three of them had been working since the break of dawn, trying to figure out what the command to get back home was. They didn’t have much time, and their success so far was limited. 

“What the fuck? How did he even find us?” Tommy whispered

"No need to be afraid, _Clay_ ,” Wilbur crooned, his voice dripping with thinly-veiled hatred. “I just wanted to discuss your little plan. Y’know, the one about bringing back the absolute nightmare that haunted our every waking moment. You couldn’t possibly think that I would let you get away with this, could you?” 

Tommy heard another person step forward. “Dream, please, I don’t want anyone getting hurt…” Tommy’s heart dropped. Tubbo had led Wilbur straight to them.

George immediately got to his feet. Dream stood from the chair.

It didn’t matter. Tommy was the first one to the door. “I’ll go take care of him. You both continue working on finding the command. I’ll try to stall him as long as possible,” he said, stepping out into the crisp morning air. 

Tommy had never seen Wilbur like this before. He looked messy and disheveled, his uniform jacket coated in dirt and dust. Wilbur's slight grin made Tommy feel uneasy. It looked maniacal, almost insane as he held up an enchanted crossbow.

"What do you want, Will?” Tommy struggled to keep his voice steady as he stared down the man he had once thought of as a brother. 

“All I want is Dream. I don’t want to hurt you Tommy, but if you don’t move out of the way, I will not hesitate to cut you down.”

“Is that a challenge? ” His hand drifted towards the hilt of his sword.

A look of sadness crossed the older man's face. “Sure. If that is how you wish to see it.” The click of the crossbow fire echoed throughout the forest, as Tommy watched an arrow soar towards his heart. 

~~~

"Okay, so I've tracked it down to this house.” Tubbo said, gesturing to the building in front of them.

“So, do we just… go in?” Wilbur asked.

“I think so…?” Tubbo replied, sounding a bit confused “Tommy? What exactly are we supposed to do? I mean, I know we’re supposed to stall him for as long as possible, but how?”

Tommy unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door of the small rental car, stepping out into the morning light. “Hell if I know. I was just gonna go in and start stabbing shit.” His voice was filled with false bravery and confidence. In reality, he was terrified of what was going to happen. Dream had always scared the living shit out of him, but he wasn’t going to let that show. 

“Excuse me? No way are we going in there without some sort of plan.” Wilbur quickly climbed out of the car, staring at Tommy in shock. “From what you’ve told us, this guy is fucking insane. We need at least some sort of plan of action.” 

“Wilbur, we don’t have time for that. What we need is to get in there and make sure he doesn’t kill everyone I care about” 

Tubbo placed a hand on his friend's shoulder as he stepped onto the sidewalk. “What if seeing him triggers your PTSD? What then?” 

He couldn’t help but flinch at the touch. “Then I’ll fucking deal with it. Come on, we shouldn’t be wasting time like this.” Tommy shrugged off Tubbo’s hand and confidently made his way up the driveway, his eyes filled with steely determination. 

The older man quickly increased his pace to a jog and placed himself directly in Tommy’s path, his eyes narrowed. “Look, I get where you’re coming from, but you need to think this through. We don’t know what Dream’s got planned. For all we know, he could have set up some trap, knowing that you’d rush in.”

“So then what exactly do you propose I do? Sit outside and do nothing?” 

“All I ask is, maybe let Tubbo and I go in first. That way we can at least scout out the area and see if he’s got some stupid trap set up. Ok?” 

Tommy looked down. He hated the idea of Wilbur and Tubbo getting hurt by Dream because of him, especially since they had no idea just how cruel and insane the man truly was. However, he also couldn’t help the wave of relief that rushed over him at Wilbur’s offer. It was stupid and childish of him, but he felt grateful towards his older friend for offering. After all, this was his leader. He trusted Wilbur with his life. 

He nodded. “Fine. Just… don’t be stupid.” 

A slight chuckle sounded from behind them. “Normally we’re the ones telling you that. Funny how these things seem to work out. Come on, we’ve got an interdimensional serial killer to stop.” Tubbo’s voice was filled with forced humor as he stepped up to the door.

Will rushed up behind him as the door creaked open, revealing nothing but a dark room. Tubbo couldn’t help but frown as he took a step inside. “Why was it unlocked…?” he muttered under his breath. “You’d think that he would lock his door.” 

The two of them slowly entered the building, each one looking around in confusion and fear. The darkness was suffocating, making it impossible to tell where anything was or what was going on. Tommy stood in the doorway, waiting for Wilbur’s sign of all clear. 

He was only a few feet away, but that didn’t matter. He was too slow to stop it from happening, too scared to move. Instead, all he could do was watch in horror as his two best friends collapsed to the ground in front of him. All he could do was stare as a pair of small syringes fell to the ground next to them. All he could do was scream in horror, as he watched history repeat itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	18. Chapter 18

Wilbur’s jaw clenched as he fired the crossbow. He didn’t want to hurt the boy in front of him, he really didn’t. Even if he was a completely different person from the one he had appointed as his right hand man, he still looked no different. In fact, he felt as if he were being sent back in time. 

The Tommy in front of him reminded him of the teenager that he hadn’t seen in over a year. His eyes were filled with a spark of hope and joy that had long since died during the war. He spoke with the determination of someone who was still young, someone who hadn’t seen the horrors of battle. Someone that he should have been the entire time. 

Time seemed to slow as the boy dodged away from the arrow, his sword already drawn. Wilbur couldn’t help but notice the slight tremble of his hands, or the way his eyes glimmered with a spark of fear. Another stab of guilt ran through him. He was about to fight someone who had clearly never actually seen a real fight. Someone who was clearly hesitant to make the first attack. Someone that was still just a child. 

He pushed the guilt aside as he tossed the crossbow aside and drew his own sword. It didn’t matter who the person in front of him was, or what his feelings were. All that mattered was the fact that he was in the way. 

The sharp clang of metal meeting metal rang across the small clearing.

~~~

“No!” The teenager cried out in horror as he watched his two friends collapse in front of him. This couldn’t be happening, not again. “Wilbur, Tubbo, please, oh my god I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry! Please, no, not again!” 

He was no longer standing in an open doorway with the sun beating down on his back and an empty house in front of him. Instead, he found himself standing at the end of a long tunnel, staring into a small, dark room. His friends were lying on the floor, a paralyzed tangle of limbs. The only sign they were alive was the slow, strained rise and fall of their chests. Tommy desperately shook his head, trying to clear the memory of Eret’s betrayal from his mind. He wouldn’t be able to change the present if his mind was stuck in the past.

Still, he couldn’t help the fear that kept him frozen in place as a pair of piercing green eyes stared at him from the shadows. A familiar, sadistic smile could be seen on the man’s face as he stepped over the bodies of his two friends. Tommy could feel his blood freeze in his veins. He may have never seen Dream’s full face before, but he knew that smile. It was a smile that haunted his every movement, a smile that never failed to inject panic into his veins. 

Somehow, seeing Dream without the mask was ten times worse than when he wore it. At least when he wore the mask, it hid the insane light in his eyes. The mask may have been emotionless and empty, but it was better than watching the lights of insanity dance across his face. 

“I must say, I’m impressed you actually managed to figure out how to get here, Tommy. Although, knowing you, it likely was only because of these two weaklings that you managed to get anywhere at all.” He nudged Tubbo’s arm with his toe as he spoke. “How did you manage to do it? Lies? Bribery?”

“I’m not like you, Dream.” The teenager spat out. He had learned long ago that showing fear in front of Dream would only end up in disaster. The man was a master of manipulating emotions to his advantage. He needed to act confident, as if he didn’t want to curl up in a corner and start to cry. 

In a way, facing Dream again was the most comfortable he had felt in a while. Sure, he was terrified, but at least he knew what he was supposed to do. He had faced Dream in the past, and now it was just a matter of doing it again. 

“Oh really? Are you sure about that?” A smug smirk formed on his face. “Perhaps I’ve been misremembering everything. Weren’t you the one that joined me willingly?”

He froze. “Shut up. You’re lying.” 

“Am I? You didn’t need to join me. All I did was offer you a proposal. You’re the one that accepted it”

“Shut up!” he clasped his hands over his ears, as if blocking out Dream’s voice would make it go away. “You stupid son of a bitch, you tricked me! You fucking tricked me into helping you!” 

“Oh please, Tommy, don’t act so high and mighty. You were just desperate to leave that hellscape as I was. I just so happened to be the one to offer you a way out.”

With a cry of outrage, Tommy rushed towards Dream, his fists clenched to punch him in the face. The man only dodged out of the way with a laugh, sending the teenager stumbling past him, carried by his own momentum. “Aww, resorting to violence already? And here I thought you were supposed to be a pacifist. What happened to using your words?” 

“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!” He attempted to make another attack, but the older man was faster, more skilled. Dream wasn’t blinded by pure hatred and fear, and was able to calmly step out of the way. 

“Really, Tommy, you should try just talking these things out. I’ve found that using your words really does help get people on your side” His eyes danced with an unhinged excitement, the smile on his face never dimming as he taunted the young blonde. 

“JUST SHUT UP!!!!” Tommy screamed. The sound was raw and painful, filled with all the guilt that he had been carrying for the past week. The guilt of knowing that he had willingly betrayed his family. The guilt of knowing that he had left them behind without saying a word. The guilt of putting everyone he knew and loved in danger. With a guttural cry, he charged towards Dream once more.

In a single, fluid motion, Dream lunged forward, gripping Tommy’s forearm, and used the teen’s own momentum to send him crashing to the floor. Tommy gasped, the air knocked out of his lungs. He could only watch, tears streaming down his face, as Dream stared down at him on the floor.

“This has been fun, Tommy, but I’m getting bored now.” Dream stood back up straight and smirked. “Looks like your time is up.”

~~~

“Wilbur please, just calm down for a second!” The blonde cried out as he blocked another attack.

“Why? Why should I calm down?! Do you have any idea what you’re doing? Or are you just going along with what Dream has told you?” 

“What we’re trying to do is save the world from being completely destroyed! If you would just let me fucking talk I could actually explain it!” 

“Save it? _Save_ it?! You’re about to bring back the one person that made it hell in the first place! That's not how you save something!” Wilbur shouted as he swung his sword in a wide arc. The blonde attempted to twist away from the blow, but he was unable to get out of the way in time. The sound of tearing fabric echoed across the clearing. Wilbur couldn’t help but wince as he watched the sleeve of Tommy’s white collared shirt become infected with crimson. 

“Oh for fucks sake!” The teenager cried out as he glanced at the spreading stain. “Are you fucking kidding me? This is one of the only shirts I’ve got here!” He couldn’t help but fall back on humor to try and mask his growing fear. 

“Tommy, get out of my way!” Wilbur shouted, slashing his sword continuously. He tried to ignore the way that the fear in his friends eyes only grew more and more as blood continued to seep from his arm.

“Wilbur, stop!” Tubbo tried to intervene, running up to Wilbur. “You’re hurting him!”

“He isn’t-” Wilbur began to fight harder. “He. Isn’t. Our. Tommy.” He spat out, each sentence matched with another strike. 

“Will, _please_ -”

Wilbur didn’t listen. Each slash of his sword only served to draw more blood. Tommy stumbled backwards, not used to fighting someone who was taller than him. He had never fought someone who genuinely wanted him dead. The thought made him shudder. 

The taller man pressed his advantage, his attacks wild and unpredictable. His movements were filled with a newfound energy. The two blades clashed once more, and Will saw his opening. With a twist of his sword, he sent the blonde’s weapon skidding across the clearing. The panic and fear in his eyes increased tenfold. Will once more pushed away the guilt that started to plague him. This wasn’t his friend, he had no reason to feel guilty. 

Tubbo watched in horror as Wilbur kicked out his foot, bringing Tommy crashing to the ground. He landed on his back with a thud. Desperately, he began to push himself up, but his efforts were cut short by a boot pushing him down. A choked sob forced itself to the surface as he watched the man he had once admired raise his sword to deal the killing blow. 

“Wilbur,” Tommy’s voice was shaky, filled with panic and unshed tears. “Please, I- I don’t want to die.” 

Wil’s eyes widened, the downward swing of his sword interrupted by his own hesitation. He took a half step backwards, the blade in his hands lowering ever so slightly. “Tommy, I-” He almost sounded regretful for a split second, before he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. A cold laugh echoed through the dark forest. “You know, you almost got me for a second.” 

The sword came down, directly towards his neck.

“NO!” Tubbo screamed.

A sudden clang as Wilbur’s sword was knocked off its path by an incoming arrow. Tommy’s eyes darted around, looking for the arrow’s source, but his vision was beginning to blur. His lungs ached, taking in a quick breath. Get up. Get up. You can’t die here. His arms trembled as he pushed himself up off the ground, the feeling of hopelessness now eerily familiar. 

“Oh, so you’re a traitor too, huh, Tommy?” Wilbur spat. Tommy blinked and looked up to meet his eyes, only to find his view blocked by a swath of red fabric. 

Standing protectively over him with an axe drawn was the newly crowned king of the Dream SMP. His dark glasses shined in the morning light, reflecting the world around him. Atop his head sat a shining, golden crown. 

“Eret?” Tommy mumbled, his head still spinning.

“Tommy, you have to run!” Eret cried, his axe scraping against Wilbur’s sword. “Get to the console, I’ll hold him off!”

The boy stood and stumbled towards the dark stone building, his mind racing through different theories and possibilities. A triumphant cry emerged from the building. 

“I’ve got it! Tommy I figured it out!” Dream called out. 

Tubbo, who had been watching everything from the sidelines in fear, felt his blood run cold. They didn’t have enough time. The other Dream was going to return and there was nothing he could do about it. As he watched Tommy limp towards the small building, he made a split second decision. With a burst of speed, he sprinted towards the doorway and threw himself in front of it, blocking his friend from entering. He pretended not to notice the look of pain and betrayal that flashed across his friends face. 

“Tubbo… please,” Tommy rasped, “I don’t want to- I can’t hurt you.”

“I’m not-” Tubbo took a deep breath, trying to hide the shake in his voice. “I’m not letting you bring him back. I won’t let my friends live through that hell again.” If it came to fighting, Tubbo knew that he would lose against Tommy. He was a healer, not a fighter. He wasn’t nearly as able to fight as he needed to be, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying.

“What happened to helping me get home…?” Tommy asked quietly. 

“I’m still going to do that, but first, I need to make sure that the people who actually live here are able to do so in peace. Is that really so much to ask?” 

“And I’m trying to make sure that all of you are able to live at all! He’s going to destroy the entire world, remember?!” 

For a moment, the shorter boy hesitated, as if considering his friend's words. However, that moment quickly passed, and his stubborn expression quickly returned. “I’m not moving,” he declared. 

Tommy let out a sigh. He hated doing this, he really did. But what other choice did he have? In a swift motion, he drew his axe and hit his friend over the head with the handle. A sob bubbled to the surface as he watched his best friend crumple to the ground, the heavy tool knocking him out instantly. 

“Tommy!” Dream’s voice cut through the fog in his mind. Carefully, he stepped over his friend's body and entered the small room. 

Dream stood before the computer, a large grin on his face. The smile quickly melted as the man noticed just how injured his friend was. “Tommy! Oh my god are you ok?” He asked quickly. A surge of guilt ran through him. Why had he decided it would be a good idea to let the 16 year old defend all of them? He should have gone out there himself, or sent George out. 

Tommy attempted to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “Yeah, yeah I’m good. You figured out the command?” 

“I mean, yeah, but are you sure you’re ok?” 

“I’m fine!” He shouted, his patience running thin. “Is everything ready to go?” 

Dream and George exchanged a knowing glance. They both knew that moving forward with the plan was their best option, but it didn’t help them feel less worried about the teenager in front of them. 

“Yeah, it’s all ready to go,” George replied. “The command is in the console, we just need to send it through and trigger it.” He nodded towards the bow slung over Tommy’s shoulder. 

“Right. Okay.” Tommy looked down as he gathered the words to explain what needed to happen next.“Dream, give all your weapons to George and stand by the door. That way, the other Dream won’t have a chance to try and kill us or use the console himself.” 

“Makes sense,” Dream replied as he handed over his weapons. “Are you sure you can do this? I’m sure George would be more than happy to-” 

“Yes I’m fucking sure!” Tommy yelled,“Let’s just get this fucking over with already!” In one hand, he had drawn his bow. With the other, he leaned over the keyboard to the computer and hit the enter button. The command flashed on screen, greyed out and waiting for the trigger. The red light on his bow began to flash. 

He turned towards Dream, an arrow knocked against the bowstring. He lifted the weapon, pulling the string back towards his ear as he did. The gash in his arm throbbed painfully, but he ignored it. As he looked his friend in the eyes, he couldn’t help but tremble slightly. Here he was, pointing a deadly weapon at someone who he had always looked up to. Someone who he had seen as an older brother. His eyes began to water. Hastily, he shook his head, trying to keep the bow in his hands steady. “You ready?” He asked. 

No. No he wasn’t. He wasn’t ready to go home. He wasn’t ready to see the damage that his alter ego had done. He wasn’t ready to watch as his friend, a 16-year-old boy, dealt with the mental effects of murder. Still, he nodded. It wasn’t like he had a choice. 

The moment Tommy pressed the button, Dream could feel its effects. Time seemed to slow down around him, quickly coming to a complete standstill. He watched as an arrow flew directly towards his heart, only for it to stop mere inches from his skin. Everything turned numb. His vision turned dark. It was the same sensation of emptiness that he had experienced only two weeks prior, and he still hated it. 

In a rush, the world returned to him. He was sitting in a comfortable office chair, his hand rested on a computer mouse. In front of him, a familiar monitor was lit up. On the screen, a white box was pulled up. The text inside the box was simple, but looking at it filled him with panic. 

_**‘Are you sure you would like to delete this server?’** _

The cursor hovered over the ‘yes’ button. Hastily, Dream canceled the action and pushed himself away from the desk. He spun the chair around, trying to absorb every tiny detail of his surroundings. He was home. He was finally home. After two weeks of living as someone who didn’t belong, it felt strange to stand in his own home again. Tears began to spill over as the reality of what had almost happened finally sunk in. He had almost died. A second longer, and everyone would have died. 

Dream let out a sigh of relief and began typing. One more command and this whole mess would be over.

~~~

Tommy stood with trembling hands as he watched the light fade from Dream’s eyes. He had just killed someone. He had taken a human life. The man in front of him was now dead, because of him. He watched as blood continued to spill onto the cold, stone ground. 

_‘He deserved to die. Imagine how many other people could have died if he had kept on living. I did the right thing.’_ The thoughts repeated over and over again, but it didn’t make a difference. He had still murdered a man. 

George placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. He had forgotten about the older man’s presence completely. “Hey, it's alright. You did the right thing.” 

He shrugged the hand away, the words bringing him back to the present. With a deep breath, he stepped forward slightly and gripped the bow with both hands, raising it up. This was it. His last chance to back out. After this, there would be no return.

He raised his knee, and brought the weapon down over it, snapping it cleanly in two. 

~~~

The sound of wood splintering echoes throughout the clearing. Everyone froze. Eret, who had previously been fighting with Wilbur, instantly dropped his weapon. Before the man had any time to react, he bolted towards the building, his red cloak billowing out behind him. 

The door slammed open, revealing a dead body surrounded in fresh blood. Eret’s eyes moved upwards, and he felt his heart stop. 

Standing before him, a 16 year old boy was covered in blood and injuries. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to hold in the uncontrollable sobs. And in either hand, he held Eret’s last remaining hope of returning home, now broken in two.


	19. Chapter 19

“Tommy!” Dream cried, rushing over to the teen and wrapping him up in a tight hug. “Oh, god, Tommy, we did it! We made it out! We did it, Tommy, we...” He trailed off, unsure of what to say. He figured that this hug could communicate what he was feeling well enough.

“I’m so…” Tommy started to shake in Dream’s arms. “I’m so sorry, Dream, I’m so sorry.”

“What? What do you have to be sorry for?” Dream grinned, letting go of his friend. “You did a great job.”

“Dream, I’m not your Tommy.”

He stared in dumbfounded silence. “But… I ran the command. It should have worked.”

“No,” Tommy choked out through sobs. “It was- we planned this. Me and him. He said he would break the bow after you left. He’s not coming back.” 

A strangled sound of shock sounded from near the door. Dream glanced up and nearly screamed. Collapsed on the ground next to the door were Wilbur and Tubbo. Their eyes were wide open, filled with fear and surprise. 

“Shit!” He cried out, momentarily forgetting about Tommy as he rushed towards his paralyzed friends. “What the hell happened?! Are they ok?” 

“I don’t-” Tommy let out a cough as he pushed himself off the ground, still trying to get air back into his lungs. “I don’t know. I think he drugged them or something.”

“Oh my god, are they still awake?!” Dream asked as he rushed over to check on his friends. “Why the fuck are they still awake?!”

Tommy jolted backwards in fear, his arms reflexively moving to cover his face. “I don’t know! I’m sorry!”

Dream stared at him with an expression that Tommy had grown to hate over the past week. Pity. “I-- I’m sorry for yelling, I’m just…” Dream trailed off and sighed. “We have to help them. Do you have any ideas?”

“I’m not really sure, I don’t know anything about how that sort of stuff works here,” Tommy stammered. He needed to pull himself together. Panicking over a non-existent threat wouldn’t do any of them any good. “Milk? Does that do anything here?”

He shook his head. “No, people just drink that or use it for cheese and… stuff. Uhh…” Dream’s mind raced, thinking of everything he had ever learned. There had to be something, anything. “Are they even breathing?” 

Tommy couldn’t help the new surge of fear and shame that ran through him. It was just like the control room, only this time, he was even more helpless. He hadn’t even checked to see if his friends were breathing. “I don’t know…”

The man swore under his breath. He didn’t know what to do. “Okay, so, uh, the other Dream did… something to them to uh… mess them up. Any ideas of what it could be?”

“Poison,” Tommy gasped. “Of course. Back in the control room, Dream and Eret used super concentrated slowness potions to do the same thing to us. That’s his style. He probably did it because it would make me panic.”

“Right, I remember Wilbur mentioning that,” Dream muttered. “Okay, so, some sort of overdose, I guess?”

“Can you look up what to do? On your, uh…”

He felt as if he had just been slapped in the face. Something that would have seemed obvious to him a month ago hadn’t even crossed his mind. “I forgot about Google. Holy fuck. Okay, I’m gonna look this stuff up, you check on them, make sure they’re okay.” 

As Dream pulled out his phone and began to run a Google search, Tommy rushed over to his friends, the pain in his chest momentarily forgotten. A quick moment of silence debunked his worst fear. Tubbo and Wilbur were both breathing, though it sounded ragged and pained. A wave of relief washed over him, his mind already moving, running through every first aid tactic he knew. Quickly, he dragged each of them towards the more comfortable carpeted floor, laying them on their backs. 

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry” he muttered to them, the words repeating like a broken record. He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for, he just knew that he needed to apologize. “I should have told you guys the truth, I shouldn’t have listened to him. I’m so fucking sorry.” 

With a sob, the boy curled up on a ball on the couch, his arms holding his knees protectively to his chest. “I’m so fucking sorry…”

Tubbo could only watch as his friend sobbed on the couch, hating his inability to move or do anything. Watching Tommy retract in on himself had caused his heart to ache- although it could have been a side effect from whatever Dream had injected him with. He couldn’t be entirely sure anymore.

What was originally seconds had turned into what felt like minutes. Hours. Days. He tried to give Tommy a sign that he was okay, that he was conscious, but no matter how hard he tried to move, his body stayed stubbornly put. At least he could still blink. At least he could still think. At least he could count.

“Charcoal!” Dream cried. “Activated charcoal. I think my psychiatrist said something about it, too, not to take it with my meds. It’s a detox or… something. It absorbs medicines. We can try that.”

“What- but- _charcoal?_ ” Tommy sputtered. “They’re not furnaces, man, that makes no goddamn sense.”

“Hear me out!” Dream retorted. “It’s a food thing, like a… a powder, I think. I’m not just gonna shove briquettes down their throats, that’s stupid.”

“Yeah, well, if you just say ‘charcoal’ to a guy from another fuckin’ dimension, he’s gonna think briquettes in the throats,” Tommy pouted.

Dream couldn’t help a small smile, despite the terrible situation they were in. Even though this wasn’t the Tommy that he had known, their back-and-forth quips at each other were as familiar as could be. “Alright, alright, our worlds have their… differences. Agree to disagree, y’know?”

Tommy nodded, his expression once more turning sullen as he remembered his home, now forever out of his reach. “Yeah, yeah. Agree to disagree. Go get your charcoal, bitch boy.”

With the jingle of his car keys and a quick salute, Dream was out the door.

~~~

“So, how long is it supposed to take?” Tommy asked, staring at his friends. It had been almost 20 minutes since Dream had given them the activated charcoal, and his fears only increased with each passing moment that they didn’t start moving. 

“I don’t know. The Google page said it could take a while.” Dream responded, running a hand through his hair. “It’s only been-”

He was cut off by a violent coughing fit from Wilbur. “Oh Jesus, fuck, that was miserable,” the Brit grumbled. Wilbur’s voice sounded like someone had rubbed his throat raw with sandpaper. It was strained and raspy, his lungs clearly still not fully recovered from the drugs.

“Wilbur!” Tommy jumped up and rushed towards his friend, tackling him in a hug. Words spilled out of his mouth before he could control them. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I should have realized something was up, I’m so fucking sorry!” 

“Tommy, it’s fine, you don’t need to apologize again. You already said sorry, what, twenty times? I dunno, I lost count,” Wilbur shrugged.

“Thirty-eight,” Tubbo wheezed, his breathing returning to normal much quicker than Wilbur’s. “I kept track. Tommy, you gotta stop apologizing for stuff that isn’t your fault, man.”

Wilbur cleared his throat again, trying to jump-start his lungs into working properly. “You guys did it, right? Did the swap? Saved the world and shit?”

A second burst of coughing emerged from Tubbo as the drugs continued to slowly wear off. “I think-” he started, but was quickly interrupted by another cough. “I think that Tommy has some stuff he needs to tell us.”

All the eyes in the room turned toward him, and Tommy felt his heart wrench. “What is it you wanted to know…?” he asked as he once more backed up towards the couch and sat down. 

“What the fuck even happened? Where is our Tommy? What did he do?” Tubbo asked, his voice rough and scratchy. 

“He- Well, he's still in my world.” he muttered, blinking back tears. “We both agreed that it was for the best.”

“You _what?!_ ” Wilbur cried out as he tried to push himself up from the ground. The movements were slow and jerky, but the fact that he could move at all was a bit of a miracle. “What the hell does that mean?!”

The tears were flowing freely as he hugged his knees tightly to his chest. “He broke the trigger. He figured that without it, there would be no way for someone to try and repeat what the other Dream did…” 

Silence. Complete and utter silence fell across the room. 

“When did you two organize this…?” Someone asked, though he wasn’t sure who. 

“Last night… He um, he wrote some letters out for you guys. We both figured it would probably be best to at least goodbye ourselves.” Carefully, Tommy pulled out several sheets of paper, handing them out to each person. They were all written out in a familiar, messy handwriting. 

“Why did you not ask for help?” Dream asked softly, clutching the letter in his hands. “We could have helped you! We could have figured out some other solution, you could have gone home!” 

“That’s exactly why he didn’t want to tell you. He knew you would just try to stop him. There wasn’t… There wasn’t any other option. We had no choice.”

“Of course you had a choice! You didn’t need to go and abandon your home like that!” Tubbo cried out, as he struggled to sit up as well. 

“I’m sorry, ok?! It seemed like the only goddamn option! I- We couldn’t let that thing fall into the wrong hands again!”

“You could have just destroyed it yourself! You could have gone home and just destroyed the trigger yourself!”

“Both of you, shut up!” Wilbur yelled. He held the small piece of paper in his hands and it fluttered slightly in the air as his hand trembled. “It doesn’t matter what could have happened, there’s nothing we can do about it now. Tommy…” 

He couldn’t bear to meet Wilbur’s eyes as he spoke to him. “Tommy, I applaud you and, uhh, Tommy for making such a difficult decision that saved us all. It was spectacularly brave of you two, but you didn’t have to do it alone, y’know. You’re allowed to ask for help.”

“Does it count as doing it alone if you’re doing something with an alternate version of yourself?” Tubbo piped up. “I mean, I’m just thinking about where we draw that line now, since we have multiple of the same person and all that. But Tommy, what Wilbur said is right. You can ask me for help with whatever, anytime. Doesn’t matter what.”

Tommy nodded, his throat tightening. “Right. Thanks.” He tried to maintain his composure but was ultimately betrayed by his own body. How _dare_ his eyes start crying now, those motherfuckers.

Dream approached Tommy with that same look in his eyes as before. He tentatively held his arms out, the tilt of his head asking Tommy a silent question.

Tommy broke.

He collapsed into Dream’s arms, resting his weary head on his shoulder. Something in the back of his mind panicked, but he was too tired to acknowledge it now.

“You kids are so fucking brave,” Dream whispered, tightening his embrace.

Tommy buried his face into the sleeve of Dream’s hoodie. “M’not a fucking child.”

“No, you definitely are,” Wilbur smirked, his arms crossed.

For once, Tommy didn’t object.

~~~

_Hey Dream._

_Cat’s out of the bag, huh? Well, congrats on getting home! Hopefully you’re doing okay._

_Sorry about not telling you about the whole plan. I knew you wouldn’t let us go through with it if we told you, so I figured it made sense to keep it a secret. But hey, it’s Minecraft! I’m sure I’ll be fine. Besides, someone needed to stay back and make sure that no one was able to use the console again. I don’t want more people ending up in the same situation._

_Take care of the other Tommy, alright? Make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble._

_Until next time,  
Tommy_

_~~~_

_Hey there Big T,_

_Look, man. I know this fucking sucks. It really does. But one of us needed to break the bow, and I figured the other me deserved a chance to live a peaceful life. So yeah, if you could help him figure out how to live normally, that would be pretty good. Just maybe don’t be so clingy with him, alright?_

_Also, for the love of god please don’t let him mess up my phone too much. I know I won’t actually be there to deal with it, but it's still my phone._

_Yours truly,  
The awesomest, the coolest, and just all around great guy,  
Tommy_

_~~~_

_Some greeting or some shit_

_Hey big man, I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to tell you goodbye and not make it sound super sad. I can’t very well say “see you later,” since I’m pretty certain I won’t. Not the you that I’m used to, anyways._

_Honestly, Wilbur, I’m scared. I’m not sure what comes next. I don’t know where I’m gonna go after this. I’ve already been kicked out of L’manberg, and I’m not sure anyone is gonna be willing to let me stay with them after this._

_Eh, oh well. I’m sure I’ll figure something out. My main concern is the other Tommy. Take care of him, will you? Introduce him to big man Philza or whatever. Teach him how to run the channel if he wants. Not sure that he would really want to after all the shit he’s gone through, but it never hurts to ask. Just make sure he doesn’t end up running it into the ground._

_I’m not really sure what else to write in this letter. There are lots of questions I want to ask you about how everything is going, but I promised myself I wouldn’t be looking at the console anymore. It would just make this whole thing ten times harder._

_I signed up for a murder, by the way. I’m not super excited for that. I will have done it already by the time you’re reading this. I just hope it actually worked. Anyways, I’m sure you’ve got other shit to do, so I won’t take up any more of your time._

_~~See ya later~~ Goodbye big man,   
Tommy_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok i know this one is late and im sorryyyyyyyyyyy
> 
> Mostly its late because we started off writing this chapter with two sections, one with the rl group and one with the smp group, but we ended up deciding to just split it up into two chapters.


	20. Chapter 20

He was crying. Why the fuck was he crying? He had known exactly what was going to happen, exactly what he needed to do, and what it would mean for him. So why the hell was he crying? It was for the better, wasn’t it? The people he cared about could finally live in peace. 

He didn’t hear the sounds of the door creaking open, or the quiet tapping of boots against the cold stone floor. He didn’t hear the quiet thud of a man falling to his knees, or the near silent cries of pain. He didn’t feel the sharp stings of pain as the shattered splinters of wood dug into his palms, or the warm trickle of blood that ran down his arm. 

Eret had fallen to his knees in shock, and stared at the pale, bloodied body of Dream. An arrow was sticking out of his chest, blood drying against his green hoodie. The Dream that had stolen his life from him, had dragged him into a war that he never wanted to fight. The Dream that had forced him to act the part of a traitor, the part of someone who wanted nothing more than to see their friends dead. The Dream that tormented him with the hope of a way home, only to have it broken in front of him. 

Looking back at the broken bow, he saw him. The 16-year-old boy, whose soul had shattered into a thousand pieces along with the weapon. 

Tommy had gone through what no teenager should never have to go through. There was blood on his hands and he knew it. Sobs racking his entire being, he wanted the world to stop. He wanted to wake up, to find out that the past few weeks had only been a bad dream. He wanted it to be over. Now, he was trapped in another world, because he couldn’t help but be brave and selfless. Where had that led him? Glory? Praise? The feeling of content? Tears stained the floor as he held the shattered remains of the only thing that could’ve led him home.

“I’m…” Eret tried to start. What should he say? Did Tommy know he was stuck there as well? Should he try to comfort him? Was he supposed to reach out, and offer a supportive hand? How the hell was he supposed to offer support when he had just watched his only remaining hope shatter before his very eyes? 

“I’m sorry.”

“...you’re sorry?” Tommy said in a quiet, almost whisper-like tone. “What the fuck are you even sorry for? You don’t even know what’s going on. You’re a goddamn traitor, stop acting like you’re my friend.”

“Tommy I-” 

“Look, just leave him alone, okay? He’s been through a lot.” George stepped out from the shadows, revealing himself to Eret for the first time. He stepped in front of the broken teenager, as if trying to protect him.

“I can fight my own battles, George. I’m not a fucking child…” The boy said softly, trying to act as though he hadn’t just shot someone in the heart. “I can deal with this by myself.” 

He glanced at Eret, then back at Tommy. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes I’m fucking sure. I can take care of myself.” He muttered

“Fine. I’m going to go talk with Wilbur.” George said as he walked out the door, nearly tripping over the unconscious body of Tubbo. 

The two were silent for a moment, before Tommy finally spoke up. “What do you want, Eret?” His eyes were still trained on the splintered pieces of wood in his hands.

“I… You… How long have you been here?” he asked, pushing himself up from the ground. 

“Why do you care? You have nothing to do with this.” Subconsciously, Tommy reached up to touch the small scar on his neck, but his hand quickly dropped when he realized what he was doing. 

Eret couldn’t help but wince. He hated seeing that scar. It did nothing but remind him of all the torment and pain that Dream had forced him to live through. A constant reminder of how he would never again be welcomed by his friends with open arms, despite every effort he had made to change it. “I think you’ll find I know a lot more than you’re giving me credit for. For example, I know that the Tommy who was just out there fighting Wilbur wasn’t the same one who was fighting by his side last month.” 

Tommy froze, and for the first time, he raised his head and made eye contact with the newly crowned ruler. His heart was racing a million miles a second as his mind tried to figure out what to do. “How did you…” 

“I…” What was he supposed to say? Admitting that he was from the real world would only make Tommy feel guilty about breaking the bow. However, if he didn’t say anything at all, he would be leaving the young teenager alone to fend for himself. 

It didn’t matter, Eret could see the moment that his friend put all the pieces together. The moment that he realized what was going on. His eyes filled with tears as he glanced from the bow in his hands, to the man in front of him. His face was filled with horror and guilt. “You were the test subject…” He said softly, as if begging for Eret to deny it. 

He wished he could lie. To tell the already broken boy that it wasn’t true. But his friend deserved to know the truth. And so he nodded, refusing to make eye contact. “Yeah. Yeah I was.” 

“No… What have I done? What the fuck have I done?!” He cried out, clutching his head and falling to his knees. The broken bow clattered to the ground. The tears that had started to slow down slightly, were now back, full force. He didn’t care that he was kneeling in the blood of the man he had killed, or that he himself was still bleeding profusely. He felt like he was going to be sick. 

Hesitantly, Eret approached the teenager. He crouched down and placed a hand on his friends shoulder, not caring about the blood that was staining his cloak. “Hey man, look at me. I made the choice to stay here.” The lie rolled off his tongue easily, so easily that he couldn’t help but feel a bit startled. “I was given the chance to leave weeks ago, and I turned it down. Don’t beat yourself over it, ok?” 

He glanced up at his friend, his eyes red and swollen. “I fucking trapped you here. I took away any hope you had of ever escaping. I’m so sorry…” 

Quietly, he pulled Tommy into a tight hug, trying to comfort his friend. His bold and boisterous facade had long since cracked open, revealing nothing more than a scared child inside. A scared child who just needed someone to be there for him. The boy sobbed into his friend's shoulder, desperately clutching the back of his now blood-stained cloak. 

The door slammed open. Neither Tommy nor Eret bothered to look up. They were both too busy mourning the loss of everything that they had known and cared for. 

Wilbur stormed into the room, fully prepared to try and protect Tommy from Eret. He may not have trusted the teenager, he even somewhat resented him, but that didn’t mean he was going to let Eret hurt him. The only reason he hadn’t barged in earlier was because he had been checking in on Tubbo. However, the moment he was positive that the young teenager was in no immediate danger, he had stormed towards the building, only to be stopped by George. 

He had pushed past the shorter man with a growl, determined not to let Tommy get hurt. 

However, when he had stepped inside the small building, his sword drawn and ready for a fight, he had stopped dead in his tracks. Instead of attacking Tommy, the newly crowned king was kneeling in a pool of red, the edge of his otherwise pristine cloak soaked in the deep crimson, his arms wrapped around the younger teenager. The boy’s face was buried in the older man's shoulder, his hands desperately clutching the stained cloak, his shoulders shaking with sobs.

_‘He stabbed Tommy. That son of a bitch stabbed Tommy.’_ The words repeated in his mind over and over again, only fueling his anger. The Tommy on the ground in front of him may not have been the same teenager that he had appointed as his right hand man, but he was still just a 16 year old boy. He didn’t deserve to be hurt. 

With a trembling hand, Wilbur raised his sword and pressed the tip against the back of Eret’s neck. “What the fuck did you do.” His voice was calm and level, completely at odds with the storm that raged inside of him. Over a year of practice had taught him to keep fear out of his voice and to maintain a front of confidence. 

Eret froze as he felt the cold metal against his skin, and his hold on Tommy loosened slightly. “Wilbur…” He started, trying to mask the fear in his voice, “Wilbur, take a deep breath. I didn’t do anything, I promise.” Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t help the slight tremble in his words. 

Tommy’s eyes widened in fear at the voice. He tightened his grip on Eret’s cloak, trying desperately to not let his friends slip away from him again.Wilbur was going to kill him. He was going to kill them both. He buried his face deeper into Eret’s shoulder, shaking his head desperately. 

Wilbur looked behind Eret, seeing the pool of dried blood. He raised his sword up once again, eyes gleaming with an unreadable expression. _‘He stabbed him. He fucking stabbed him.’_

Tommy, looking up for the first time after breaking the bow, saw the glow of the enchanted sword coming down. “No!” He shouted weakly, pushing Eret aside. He prepared himself for the strike but he felt nothing.

“Tommy, what…” Wilbur said. “You’re not hurt?” Wilbur quickly threw the sword aside and rushed over to the boy, checking him for injuries.

Tommy scoffed. “Don’t be fucking stupid. You almost just killed me outside and now you’re worried? Make up your goddamn mind,” he muttered, clutching his knees to his chest protectively. 

The general quickly inspected the room, trying to find the source of the blood until his eyes landed on Dream’s body crumpled on the floor. His mind raced once again, trying to find an acceptable solution. He locked eyes with Eret once more. Of course.

“Is betrayal in your blood, Eret? You betray L’Manburg for Dream, then betray him for Tommy?”

“Wilbur, that’s not what-”

“How many more times must you deceive those that trust you? What’ll you betray Tommy for, huh? Some fucking pig you find in the middle of a forest?”

The man stood and drew himself to full height, his royal demeanor only serving to make him more intimidating. “I’m not a traitor!” Eret cried, his voice booming in the console room. Everyone there sat in stunned silence, and Eret took a deep breath. “I was never a traitor. Not once did I betray you, or anyone in L’Manberg.”

Tommy stepped forward. His stance was strong, but the tremble in his hands said otherwise. “Eret knows how to write a good story. He knows how to write a painful betrayal. Let me tell you this, though, Wilbur. He is one of the most trustworthy men I’ve met in my goddamn life.”

“Tommy, you weren’t the one sat there in the final control room paralyzed on the floor because of what he did. You didn’t have to experience the feeling of not being able to move in the body you thought was your own. You didn’t have to watch as he and Dream taunted us.”

Eret scowled. “Don’t act like you’re the only one that had to live through that, Wilbur.” He reached up and tugged on the neck of his cloak, revealing a small, slightly red scar, identical to the ones that Tommy and Wilbur had. 

“Holy fucking shit,” George muttered as he stepped back into the room. 

“Do you have any fucking idea how long I spent trying to tell you? Every time I said something, that fucking maniac-” Eret pointed at Dream’s corpse “-reversed it. He made you forget. He made Tubbo forget. He made Fundy forget. He made Tommy forget! Your Tommy! He’s gone, and he doesn’t trust me because of what Dream made all of you think.” 

“Don’t you fucking dare try to act like you’re the victim here! I’m not going to just stand here and listen to your god damned lies. I know what I saw, ok?!” Wilbur cried out, his jaw clenched in anger. 

“I’m acting like a victim, because I am a fucking victim! Do you have any idea how hard the last month has been for me?! I had to watch as all of my friends scorned me for something that never even happened. I had to sit there, pretending that I was a traitorous bastard who only wanted to watch your nation burn to the ground. Any attempts I made at convincing you otherwise were erased in an instant.” He snapped his fingers, emphasizing the final word. 

“Shut up! You’re lying! You’re fucking lying!” Tears started to stream down Wilbur’s face. “You’re just trying to get me on your side. You just want us to trust you, so that you can go and stab us in the back again!” 

A small voice cut through the arguing, making both men fall silent. “Wil, please… Please stop. Eret never meant to hurt you. He never meant to hurt any of us.” 

“I-” Wilbur looked at Tommy in shock and dismay. “You’re- no, no- you two are lying! Both of you-”

“Just shut up and listen, ok?!” The teenager cried out, shooting to his feet. “Stop acting like you know exactly what's been going this past month! Stop acting like you’re this all knowing being. Because guess what, you’re not! You have no idea what kind of shit has been happening when you were too busy putting yourself on a goddamn pedestal to care.”

Eret blinked away tears and met Wilbur’s eyes. “I don’t blame you for not believing me, but you have to get it through your head that I am not the person you think I am.”

Wilbur couldn’t help but take a step back, shocked by the sudden outburst. The boy that had been curled up in the corner meekly just a moment before was now standing tall before him, his eyes set and filled with determination and desperation, despite the tears that still ran down his face. It was a familiar expression, one that he found he couldn’t just ignore. His brow furrowed as the words sank in. “You weren’t even here, Tommy. Stop acting like you understand what’s happening. You’re still just a fucking child.” 

Eret stepped in front of Tommy, raising his arm to protect his friend. “He may be a child, but he’s already gone through hell and back. Do you realize what he just did? He just killed someone, Wilbur. He just killed someone and then proceeded to destroy his only hope of returning home.”

“I-” Will started, but was cut off. 

With a flick of his wrist, Eret removed his dark glasses. His glowing eyes pierced through the darkness of the bedrock room, causing everyone to back away slightly in fear. “He could have easily just gone home. He could have easily left and just left you to try and deal with Dream on your own. Instead he went and sacrificed everything, to try and save your sorry ass. The least you could do is spare a bit of sympathy.” 

“I’m not a child…” Tommy protested, but his voice was weak. He made no move to push Eret away, or to step out from behind the protective stance. He clutched his injured arm tightly, the sleeve of his white collared shirt now soaked in blood. Despite his constant insisting that he was mature and grown up, he couldn’t help but feel the truth in Eret’s words.

In some way, it was comforting. For the past two weeks he had been forced to act like an adult, like he knew what he was doing. It was nice to have someone holding his hand and guiding him through the actions. 

The door creaked open slowly as Tubbo stumbled into the room, clutching his head in pain. The moment he saw Tommy standing behind Eret, his eyes lit up, all pain forgotten temporarily. “Tommy! Oh my god, you’re ok!” The boy pushed past both Wilbur and Eret, ignoring both of their attempts to stop him. This was his Tommy, wasn’t it? It had to be. 

Tommy froze as he saw the door open. He needed to break the news to Tubbo. How the hell was he supposed to tell Tubbo? The boy that had been so confident about the fact that his Tommy was going to return home. The one person that actually believed in him. How was he supposed to explain that all that hope was for nothing?

He tackled his friend in a tight hug, burying his face in the taller blonde's chest, tears streaming down his face. “You’re back, oh my god you’re back. Holy shit, you’re actually back.” 

Tommy could feel his heart shatter even further, something that he hadn’t thought was possible. Desperately, he held onto Tubbo, trying to capture his friend's hope, ignoring the spikes of pain that ran through his wounded arm. Tears fell into his friends brown hair as he began to speak. “Tubbo… It’s still me.”

The boy lifted his head and glanced up at his taller friend, but didn’t actually step away from the hug. “What do you mean?” He asked, terrified of the response. 

Tommy only held onto him tighter, hoping to feel for at least a moment that everything was normal again, but he subconsciously knew that he would never be able to feel that way again. “He’s gone, man. He’s gone and he isn’t coming back. Your Tommy is gone. I fucking-” a sob ran through him. “I destroyed it. The trigger’s gone. He can’t come back. I’m so sorry… I’m so fucking sorry.” 

The following silence was deafening, save for the sobs of two grieving children as they both wept over all they had lost. Eret cracked open the door to the console. Wilbur and George quickly followed, leaving the boys alone to mourn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more hints as to what happened to eret? hell yeah more hints as to what happened to eret
> 
> Also! TRW is gonna be coming to an end soon! I know that theres still lots of unanswered questions, but I promise they will all be answered in due time, you need not worry :D


	21. Chapter 21

_To the people of L’Manberg_

_It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that I will not be returning to our great nation anytime in the foreseeable future. Don’t bother feeling sad about it, I made my choice. Besides, by the time you’re reading this, there isn’t much you can do about it. The trigger has been broken. You guys won’t have to worry about any of this shit ever happening again. However, this also means that I’m stuck where I am now, and the other Tommy is stuck there. Because of this, we each wanted to write out some letters, in a last ditch effort to say goodbye._

~~~

“I’m so sorry…” Tubbo muttered softly, still clutching the back of Tommy’s shirt. “I’m so, so sorry.” 

“Why the fuck are you apologizing? I’m the one that basically killed your best friend.” Tommy said through his tears. 

“I should have- I should have been there for you. I promised that I was going to help you get home. I made a promise” his shoulders shook with sobs as he once more buried his face in his friends chest. Guilt wormed through his heart. His friend had been counting on him, and he had let him down. “Was it because I told Wilbur? I’m sorry, I should have just let you guys figure it out on your own. I just thought it would be for the best. I just wanted everyone to be safe…” He was rambling. The words wouldn’t stop pouring out, despite every cell in his body screaming at him to stop. Why couldn’t he stop?

“... Shut up man. God, you’re so annoying, you know that?” Tommy said quietly, cutting off his friends rambles, “Stop blaming yourself, it wasn’t your fault."

"I- but-" Tubbo scrambled to find words to describe even a quarter of what he was feeling right now. Anger? Grief? Sorrow? He didn't know.

"It's alright. Tubbo, it's going to be alright. It's- everyone's safe now." Tommy said. It wasn't a complete lie. Things were going to be okay. It's fine, it's alright. It's going to be fine, right?

“But what about you? What are you going to do…?” he asked quietly.

Tommy shrugged. “I don’t know. Build a house? Go exploring? I-I’m honestly not sure” he forced a small chuckle, although it sounded pained. “It's not like I can go back to L’manberg.”

Tubbo took a step back, wiping his eyes. He needed to stay strong. His friend needed help, he couldn’t break down. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as his eyes landed on Tommy’s arm. “O-oh my god! Dude, you’re bleeding!” The sleeve of Tommy’s shirt was torn, revealing a bloodied gash underneath. The wound was deep, and the bleeding had only slightly slowed. 

Tommy glanced down at it and couldn’t help but wince at the sight. However, he just hid his arm behind his back. “It’s fine, I’ll be fine. Besides, aren’t you the one with the concussion? I should be the one worried about you.” he couldn’t help but feel grateful at the change of subject. As long as he was thinking about something else, his mind wasn’t stuck on the fact that he could no longer return home. As long as he was taking care of his friend, he wasn’t thinking about how he had just murdered another human being. 

~~~

_Tubbo, you always took such great care of us, and for that I can never repay you. You were my best friend, and even though there's another Tubbo where I am now, he could never actually replace you. I’ll never forget all the shit we got up to together, or all the chaos we caused. I also will never forget how you were the one that always managed to get us out of trouble when we got caught. After all, you were always the brains behind the operation. Treat this new Tommy the same way you treated me, ok? Show him our favorite spots. Try to make him feel welcome. I’m sure he could use it._

~~~

Tubbo wasn’t listening. He had already pulled out a roll of bandages from the bags around his waist and was busy preparing them. The wound clearly needed stitches, but he didn’t have the supplies for that. He would just have to make due with some bandages and health potions. “Sit down.” He said, pointing to the chair. His friend sat.

Tubbo was also unbelievably grateful for the distraction. As his hands moved through the familiar motions of disinfecting the wound and bandaging it, he could almost pretend like nothing had changed. Him and Tommy had just come back from some crazy adventure, and were now desperately trying to hide any evidence that they were gone before Wilbur came back and discovered them. In many ways, he could almost imagine that he was fourteen again, running around and causing mischief with his best friend. 

The illusion shattered the moment he glanced up at Tommy’s face. It was filled with far too much sorrow and pain for any teenager. It wasn’t right. None of this was fucking right. 

His mind continued to wander as he searched through his bag, looking for health potions. He cursed under his breath as he pulled out a single vial, filled with a vibrant, pink liquid. He had been hoping that he had two, one for each of them. It didn’t matter, Tommy needed it far more than he did. 

“Drink” He said, holding out the vial. 

Tommy’s eyes narrowed. “Nope, no way. I’m not the one with the concussion.” 

“Oh my god, would you stop being so stubborn? I’ll be fine, just drink the damn potion”

“Nope, not gonna do it. You just got hit with a fucking axe. Who knows what kind of shit that will do to you if you don’t take care of it?” 

“If you don’t take care of your arm, it’s going to get infected. I’m not just gonna watch that happen”

“Oh, for fucks sake. Fine! I’ll drink the damn potion.” Tommy grabbed the vial out of his friends hand and stared at it for a moment. Slowly, he drank roughly half of the bright, shining liquid. A small, smug smile emerged on his face as he handed it back. “Your turn.” 

“I- What? You can’t do that! That’s cheating!” Tubbo cried out, unable to keep the grin off his face. 

“Yeah, well I just did. Now drink the damn potion.” 

“Oh my- you’re the worst. I hate you so much sometimes,” he replied. He took the vial anyways, knowing that there would be no way to win this argument. With a roll of his eyes, he chugged the rest. 

Instantly, the fog in his mind began to clear. His headache dissipated, leaving only a dull throbbing behind. A wave of gratitude towards his friend washed over him. “Thanks man. You didn’t need to do that…” 

“Oh shut up. It’s the least I could do after all you’ve done to help out.” Tommy rolled his eyes jokingly. 

The words forced Tubbo back into the present. His brow furrowed as tears once more pricked at his eyes. He was silent for a second, sitting on the stone floor, before finally asking the question that had been plaguing him. “So… He’s really not coming back, is he?” 

“No. H-he’s gone. I’m so sorry.” He turned the chair around and began to dig through the papers on the desk. “He uh, he had me write out a letter for you guys. We figured it would be nice to have one final goodbye.”

Slowly, he handed Tubbo the letter. The writing started off uneven and messy, with ink smeared everywhere. However, as the letter continued, the words became neater and neater as Tommy got more used to the strange quil. 

Tubbo held it gingerly as he began to read. “To the people of L’Manburg…” His eyes scanned over the page, taking it all in, and Tommy just watched. His heart twisted, full of immense guilt, even though he knew that they had both made their choices.

~~~

_Wilbur, you were the greatest President and General I could have asked for. Your quick thinking and clever ideas got us through this war, and for that I am eternally grateful. You were an incredible leader, and it was an honor to fight by your side. Just stop being such a fucking idiot, ok?_

_The other Tommy told me how you banished him from L’Manberg, and knowing you, you’re probably gonna do something stupid. This wasn’t his fault. None of it was his fault. In fact, it was mostly mine. I’m the one that made the swap in the first place, not him. He was just thrown into this situation without any explanation. So for the love of god, stop treating him like it's all his fault. Treat him the same way you treated me. He’s still Tommy, even if you’re too stubborn to see it. You can consider that my final request._

~~~

Just outside the console room, Wilbur took in his surroundings. His coat fluttered in the breeze, reminding him that he was still here.

“So,” Eret muttered. “what’re you gonna do when you get back?”

Wilbur chuckled. “I have no fucking idea.”

“Did you mean what you said, Eret?” George interjected. “About you having made your choice to stay?”

Eret thought to himself for a moment. “I did. I definitely chose to stay, but it just wasn’t… when I said I had. As soon as I knew that Tommy was still here, I figured, ‘hey, that kid needs someone to watch his back with Dream gone.’ So I’m gonna stay as long as he is.”

Wilbur nodded. “Right.”

“Right.”

All three of them stood in tense silence, waiting for one of them to say what it was they were all thinking. Where would they go from here?

The door creaked, and Eret glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Tommy and Tubbo sneaking away. Wilbur started moving towards them, but Eret blocked his path.

“Let them go. They clearly need some time,” he said, before he turned and walked away. 

George watched on as Eret strode over to the console door and stepped inside, regal cloak flowing behind him. According to Eret, he had been here for months now, and George had failed to notice. His heart wrenched. Since he had met the other Dream, George had been thinking about what could have been if he’d had true friends. All this time, he could have been speaking with Eret. Standing by his side. Training with him. But he hadn’t. Instead, he had turned a blind eye to it all, forcing the man to struggle through everything on his own.

Inside the console room, the heels of Eret’s boots clicked against the cold bedrock floor. He took one last look around the console and sighed, organizing the papers on the table. Some of the papers were unfamiliar to him, covered in harsh scribbles, but he recognized the notes he took back when he still had hope of getting home. Back before he had given up. How long had it been since he had last come here? Three months? Maybe four? He had lost count. 

As he set the papers down, he caught view of something in the corner of his eyes. A sheet of paper sat in the center of the desk, almost screaming for attention. The writing was much more organized than anything else on the desk. Instead of scratched out notes, it held a full letter that took up nearly the entire paper. 

Eret frowned as he picked it up and began to read. It was obviously written by Tommy, he could recognize that chicken scratch anywhere. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. A tearful goodbye? An explanation as to why he had made his choice? What he read instead was haunting.

~~~

_Eret, I honestly don’t know why I’m including this part. It’s not like you have any idea what’s been going on, and I’m sure Wilbur is going to try to keep it under wraps. God knows what you might try to do if you actually found out. Still, maybe getting this out on paper will help clear my mind._

_I’m sure you’re expecting something hateful and cold, but in all honesty, I do miss you. I miss the days when we were still friends, fighting for the same cause. I miss the days before the final control room, when I could still talk with you without feeling sick. Perhaps spending time in this other world will give me the chance to forgive you. Perhaps it won’t. All I can hope is that you change your ways and learn your lesson._

_The other Tommy told me how you’ve been crowned king, and to be perfectly honest, I’m glad. You might be a bitch, but I know that you’ll at least try to rule fairly. With Dream dead, everyone in the SMP is going to be looking towards you for advice. Don’t fuck this up, ok?_

~~~

He let the letter flutter out of his hand and onto the desk. Tommy had trusted him. Even after the “betrayal,” the Tommy from the SMP had trusted him to rule well, and had _missed_ him. But it wasn’t even the real him. This Tommy had no idea that the Eret that he missed was in his reach, his place taken by some other version of himself. Nobody missed him. Nobody knew that they were able to miss him. Nobody knew where he was, save for the person stuck here with him, and it seemed that nobody would ever know.

Eret blinked his tears away and took a deep breath. A king must appear composed, he reminded himself. He needed to stay strong. 

The door opened behind him. “What are you doing?” 

Without looking, Eret picked up the letter and handed it to Wilbur. After all, it was a letter written for the people of L’manberg. The president deserved to read it. 

“What the…?” Wilbur asked, as he took the paper. 

“It’s from Tommy, your Tommy. He uh, he wanted to say goodbye I think.” His back was still turned away from the door as he tried to compose himself. He couldn’t let Wilbur see him cry. He needed to be strong now. People needed him. 

~~~

_Tommy, I wish you the best. Your world was difficult for me to adjust to, so I can only imagine how tough it is for you. I mean, I know that it’s pretty much the same as that one game you play, but still, I’m sure adjusting is a bitch. I know that you’re probably struggling with coming to terms with it all, and honestly, I am too. Tubbo and Wilbur say hi. At least, I think they will. They still have no idea about our plan. I’m not sure why I’m having you write this down, considering I could just tell you, but it makes me feel better. Maybe it's the fact that there will be a physical copy of it? Who knows._

_At this point I’m literally just telling you to write this because I’m a petty bitch. Ha. Get fucked._

~~~

“Is there a reason why we’re in the SMP land? I thought we weren’t exactly welcome here” Tommy asked as he walked down the simple wooden path. Him and Tubbo had been traveling for several days, and he still had no idea where they were going. The past three days had been incredible, a breath of fresh air from the chaos of his life. 

Since they had no real time constraints to return home, the two boys had allowed themselves to relax a bit, and to just let themselves be kids. Tubbo had gone out of his way to show his friend some of the best places he could think of. After all, this was his home now, wasn’t it? It seemed only right that he had the chance to see the beauty of it. 

“It’s a surprise!” Tubbo responded with a laugh.

The taller boy couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “You’ve been saying that for the past three days. I’m starting to think that you don’t actually have a plan and are just leading me in circles” 

“Oh come on, give me some credit. Would I do that to you?” 

“Yes,” He responded without hesitation, “You one thousand percent would.” 

His snarky response only earned him a punch to the shoulder. Still, both friends couldn’t help but laugh. 

Tommy’s brow furrowed in confusion as he looked around. “Why are we at my old house? This place is a complete dump.” They were standing in front of a hollowed out tunnel that Tommy had once called home. The structure itself wasn’t anything impressive. The walls were completely made from dirt, with only a few chests pushed to the back. A door could be seen in the back, but he knew it didn’t lead anywhere. 

Tubbo stepped inside, dragging his friend behind him. “Real quick, could you open up your ender chest?” 

He was instantly nervous. “Uh, what? Why? I thought only I could see my stuff inside?” 

“Ah, I forgot…” Tubbo’s voice briefly filled with sadness at the blunt reminder of his friend’s situation. Over the past few days, he had allowed himself to forget that the Tommy next to him wasn’t really the same person who had greeted him when he had first woken up in this world. He blinked away the tears that were starting to form. He needed to stay strong, for his friend. “Just put your hand on top, I’ll be able to access your stuff.” 

He frowned, pushing away the pain in his chest that blossomed at the harsh reminder. “Doesn’t that negate the entire point of an ender chest? In minecraft you could only see your stuff”

“What? How does that work?” 

“I dunno. I think it just linked the data of what was in it to your player file or something. I don’t fucking know, I didn’t bother with all that coding shit.”

Tubbo stared at him as if he had grown a second head. Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. He had forgotten just how outlandish and strange many of the things from his world seemed in comparison to the things here. Tubbo just shook his head, trying not to think about it. Instead, he just pointed towards the lid of the obsidian chest. “Put your hand there. It’ll let us access your stuff” 

He placed his hand on the lid, trying to ignore the staring eye on the front of the box. “Like this?” 

“Perfect!” He lifted the lid of the chest, revealing a mess of different objects and tools. Tommy couldn’t help but stare. “Alright, close your eyes.” 

“What? Why?” 

“It’s for the surprise! Don’t worry, it's not a bad surprise, I promise.” Tubbo knew that he was asking for a lot. After all, the last time he had asked his friend to trust him, he had nearly gotten him killed. Still, he also knew that what he had planned would be much better as a surprise. 

Tommy hesitated for only a brief moment before turning around and closing his eyes. He trusted his best friend. Always had, always will.

He heard rummaging behind him, before the click of the chest closing echoed through the small cave (he refused to call it a home). “Alright, keep your eyes closed. I’m just gonna lead you to where we’re going, ok?” 

Tommy nodded. With one hand, he reached out, trying to grab Tubbo’s hand. The other hand lay across his face, covering his eyes. He knew that he could easily just follow the sound of his friend's voice, but he couldn’t shake the fear that Tubbo would abandon him. It was irrational and stupid, but that didn’t get rid of the nagging voice in his head. 

The shorter brunette took his friend's hand without question, and began to slowly guide him somewhere. 

The walk was brief, only taking a minute or so. When they stopped walking, Tubbo spoke up. “Alright, keep your eyes closed. I’ll let you know when you can open them.” 

A quiet click could be heard. The sound of music filled the quiet air, surrounding the two friends. “Alright, you can open them!” 

Tommy couldn’t help but gasp as he opened his eyes. The two of them stood in a familiar spot, overlooking a familiar scene. Tears filled his eyes as he looked over the birch wood forest, the sun just starting to dip below the horizon. Rays of gold and red were thrown across the sky, the leaves of the trees below him shining in the evening light. 

A glance backwards confirmed what he already suspected. Tubbo was sitting on a bench made of pale birch, his hand resting on a jukebox. Next to him lay two music discs, one purple and one red. The third was in the jukebox itself, its green center spinning as the music continued to play. 

Tommy stumbled backwards, sitting down on the bench with a thud. Tears now poured down his face. 

“Well?” Tubbo asked nervously, “What do you think?” 

“This is incredible…” Tommy said quietly “Holy fuck, it’s so much better than in-game.”

“I know it’s probably not the same as anything you have back home, but I figured I would at least show you some of the spots that me and the other Tommy used to hang out. You know, as a sort of welcoming gift I guess. This was one of our favorite spots…” 

“For fucks sake, just- just shut up, man. This is amazing. Thank you so much.” Without warning, he turned and gave his friend a hug, his shoulders still shaking with sobs. 

Tubbo quickly returned the hug, trying his best to convey as much warmth and kindness as possible. He wanted to make sure his friend knew that he was here for him. They were going to get through this together. It was going to be ok

They were going to be ok.

~~~

_To everyone else, please just keep your heads high. If you’re reading this, then that means Dream is most likely dead. If he’s not, well then I guess just go about life like you always did? I dunno, I’m just really hoping that Dream is dead. To be honest, you probably won’t be reading this if he’s still alive, so let's just hope for the best?_

_Anyways, treat this new Tommy the same way you treated me. He’s going to need lots of help_

_Don’t do anything stupid  
Tommy_

~~~

Wilbur stood in the entrance of the tunnel that led towards L’manberg, his eyes closed as he listened to the calming music. In some ways, it was almost like nothing had changed. 

Tommy and Tubbo were sitting on the old, wooden bench, listening to music and watching as the sun set over the vast birch forest. The air was filled with a sort of peace, as if the entire world were holding its breath, not daring to disturb the precious moment. 

However, none of that could change the fact that _everything_ had changed. The boy who he had built up the nation with was gone. The boy that he had considered a younger brother was gone. He was gone, and there was no getting him back. 

The man that had once tormented them was gone too. They were safe. They were finally safe and Tommy wasn’t even there to see it. He wasn’t there to see the flag raised above their free nation, a nation that he had helped to create. He wasn’t there to run through open fields with his best friend, laughing and talking about nothing. 

Everything had changed, despite the world’s insistence that it was still the same. Wilbur couldn’t help but resent the boy that had taken the place of his right hand man. He knew that it wasn’t his fault, and that he was just as lost and confused as the rest of them, but he couldn’t help it. 

Still, words from the letter continued to repeat in his mind. _‘Treat him the same way you treated me. He’s still Tommy, even if you’re too stubborn to see it. You can consider that my final request.’_

He let out a sigh. He needed to at least try to welcome this new Tommy into his life, if only for the sake of honoring his friend’s final request. He stepped forward out of the tunnel and into the dying light. 

“Hey Tubbo, Tommy!” He called out. They both turned to look at him, their faces both stained with tears. “It’s getting late. Come on, let’s head home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I was gonna say I'm sorry about it being late, but honestly I'm glad I took the extra time with this one. I'm honestly super proud of how it turned out :D
> 
> This is the final chapter, not including the epilogue! I know that theres lots of questions still unanswered, and don't you worry about it! I promise I've got a plan :D


	22. Epilogue

_Run._

He didn’t know what terrified him more. His friends, unconscious (or dead, but he didn’t want to even consider the possibility) on the ground or masked, emotionless person holding an axe. The ringing in his ears increased ten-fold as Dream walked towards him. He wanted to move-- to get out-- yet his entire body was frozen in place. He felt a stinging pain in his neck and immediately knew what it was.

 ** _“Nowhere to run anymore,”_** Dream said, his loud-- _too loud_ \-- voice ringing in his head. **_“This was your fault, Tommy. Look at the mess you’ve made.”_**

With a metallic _whoosh,_ the netherite axe swung down into the ground, sending crimson splattering onto everything in the surrounding area. Tommy clutched at his head. Someone was screaming. He couldn’t see who it was. Another swing. Another splatter. Was his uniform always this red?

The mask’s beady eyes bore into Tommy’s soul. The emotionless grin seemed to mock him as Dream lifted his axe towards the sky once more.

He didn’t have any time to react before the glowing, purple axe came hurtling down directly into his skull.

A scream was torn from his throat. His eyes flew open as he sat up with a gasp. Tears were streaming down his face as he desperately looked around, trying to figure out if he was in any danger or not. It took him several seconds to recognize the darkly lit space of his bedroom. 

He let out a sigh of relief and collapsed backwards onto the bed. He was safe. It was nothing more than another nightmare. A nightmare that had been plaguing him non-stop for the past month or two, but a nightmare nonetheless. 

He glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. 4 AM. That had to be a new record. 

The door to his room creaked open, and Tommy couldn’t help but tense in apprehension. However, he quickly relaxed as his dad poked his head inside the room.

“Hey Tom, you alright?” 

He was quiet for a moment as he tried to slow his racing heart. “Yeah, I’m good.” He finally said. “Just another nightmare. Sorry for waking you up.” 

It was a familiar routine at this point, one that he had been repeating each night for the past month. Relive the hell of his old life, wake up his parents, and then spend the next hour describing the terrifying scene while they tried to console him. 

“Same one?” 

“Yeah…” 

“You wanna talk about it?” 

“Not really. You’ve already heard it like 20 times now.” 

“You know, your therapist said-” 

“I know what my therapist said!” He snapped, but immediately felt guilty. There was no good reason to be upset, his Dad was just trying to help. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout…” 

“It’s alright, I understand. We can talk about it in the morning, ok?” 

“Alright…” he grumbled. Silence fell over the room for a few seconds “Hey Dad?” he asked quietly.

“Hm?” 

“Why are you doing this? Helping me, I mean. I’m not even your real son…” 

His dad sighed, cracking the door open and taking a seat on the edge of Tommy’s bed. "We've talked about this before, Tom. Just because you're not the Tommy that your mother and I picked up from the hospital all those years ago doesn’t mean that you’re not still Tommy. You’re still our son, in some way, shape, or form. We’ll love you no matter what. Even if you’re from a different dimension and have experienced a different life, that doesn't mean you're any less deserving of a loving family."

Tommy nodded, forcing down the lump in his throat. “Yeah. Right.”

“Remember that, Tommy. People love you, and it’s for a reason.”

“Pity?” Tommy scoffed, his heart twisting in his chest. He already knew the man’s answer, but something in the back of his mind told him that it couldn’t be. He could still remember the tears that were shed when he had handed his parents the letter. The expressions of pain and anguish. 

“No, Tommy, because you’re my son,” his dad smiled and walked over to the door. “Do you think you can get back to sleep? You’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I’ll try,” he mumbled, pulling his blankets back over him. 

His dad turned the lights off and pulled the bedroom door shut. “Love you, Tom.”

“Love you too.”

~~~

“So how have your sword fighting classes been going?” Sapnap asked. 

“I honestly wasn’t expecting them to go this well,” Dream admitted. “Video game muscles are different than real life muscles, y’know? But it’s been going really great!”

It had been nearly a month since Dream had returned home, and life had more or less returned to normal. Originally, it had felt as though he were stepping back into a world that he didn’t quite belong to. Everything felt both familiar and completely foreign at the same time. Everything was still exactly the same as when he left.

“That’s awesome! I’m glad to hear it.”

“You should’ve been there, dude, I beat the SMP George in PVP! Me, the guy who’d never held a sword before, using an ender pearl to beat a fucking trained fighter!” Dream contemplated for a second. “Actually, you probably shouldn’t have been there, but y’know what I mean.”

“Yes, I know. You’ve told me like 20 times now,” his friend said with a laugh. 

A third voice cut into the conversation, startling them both. “Sorry, I zoned out. What’s going on?” George asked. 

Sapnap and Dream instantly shut their mouths, trying not to burst out laughing. They had forgotten that their friend was still in the call

“What? I can hear you guys snickering, y’know. You’re not sneaky.”

“Speak of the Devil!” Sapnap laughed.

“We are very sneaky, I’ll have you know,” Dream said with a laugh. 

“Bullshit. Why were you talking about me?” 

“Uhh, we were-”

“I was just saying I could totally beat you in a sword fight!” he interrupted. 

“Yeah! That.” 

George rolled his eyes. “Oh my god, were you talking about the sword fight again? That wasn’t even me, Dream!” He laughed. “You have no idea if I could beat you in a sword fight or not. Maybe I’ve been hiding my amazing swordsmanship from you this whole time just to pull a dramatic ‘deus ex machina.’ Did you ever think of that, Clay?”

The group of friends burst out laughing. Dream was unbelievably grateful that Sapnap had convinced him to explain what had happened to George, if only because it helped to ease his worries. George hadn’t quite believed either of them at first, but had eventually been convinced by Wilbur, Tubbo, and Tommy. 

Dream glanced down at his desk for a second and saw Tommy’s letter out of the corner of his eye. His heart ached. “Hey, guys, speaking of the smp, I was thinking about something.”

“Lay it on me,” Sapnap replied.

“Tommy is pretty much alone in the SMP right now. And the things we do on the server have an effect on their world. So I was thinking…” Dream took a deep breath. “... what if we added some new faces to the server?”

~~~

“Wait, hold on, Tommy, you could listen to music without a jukebox? How!?” Tubbo rushed to catch up with his friend as they meandered along the wooden path.

“With your phone, I guess,” Tommy shrugged. 

“That’s the thing you use to talk to people far away, right?”

“Yep.”

“There’s _music_ on those!? Holy shit!”

Eret couldn’t help but laugh at Tubbo’s shock, feeling even more grateful for his friendship. Tubbo had been one of the first to listen to Eret’s side of the story, and although the glint of fear never quite left his eyes, it was clear that he was trying. Moments like these helped him feel less lonely after everything he had gone through these past few months.

“Yeah, phones have everything on them,” Tommy explained. “They have games--”

“Games!?”

“--movies--”

“What the fuck is a movie?!” 

“--it’s like a story but on a video. They have YouTube--”

“YouTube? What?”

“Like a short movie that doesn’t cost money. I just so happened to be incredibly famous on youtube” 

“You had like, 500k subs,” Eret retorted. 

“And?! I averaged nearly a million views per video!” 

Tubbo stared in awe. “Five hundred thousand people watched your videos? That’s incredible!”

“Yeah, it is,” Tommy grinned. “Hey, let me tell you about this guy called Technoblade. Now, if you put him in the thumbnail of your video -- that’s the picture that you see before you watch the video, the thumbnail -- if you do that, you can get a bunch of views.”

“Also Dream. You could get so many views from putting Dream in thumbnails,” Eret added.

Tommy couldn’t help but wince at the name. His mind filled with images of bloodstained stone, and a crumpled figure on the floor. He pushed away the memories. “Right! Dream!” Tommy turned around to face Tubbo, walking backwards. “So y’know how where we’re from, this is a game, right? A story we’re telling? We told it through YouTube videos. And Dream -- the cool one -- he has millions of people that watch every single one of his videos.”

The three friends continued their journey through the spruce forest, their laughter and joy echoing across the trees. They had fallen into the habit of checking the spawn every morning for any newcomers, a job that had once belonged to Dream. When Tubbo had explained the old system, Tommy had immediately volunteered to take over. He wanted to help make sure that no one would ever feel as lost and confused as he had when the swap first happened. At least he had some knowledge of how to survive. Anyone who spawned in would know nothing. 

Besides, he couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, he would get to see one of his old friends again. 

The trio of friends approached the clearing and looked around, just like they did every morning. 

“Nothing. No one’s here.” Tubbo called out. 

“Yeah, I don’t see anything either.” Eret replied. 

Tommy was just about to open his mouth to respond, when he heard it. A voice. A familiar voice. A voice that he hadn’t heard in months, and that he thought he would never hear again. “Hello? Is someone out there?” 

His eyes widened. Someone was actually here. One of his friends from back home was actually here. He ran towards the sound, desperate to see his friend once again. 

The teenager burst through the trees, ignoring his two friends behind him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he found himself face to face with someone who he thought he would never see again. 

“Big Q!” He sprinted over and tackled the man into a hug. “It’s so good to see you, holy shit, oh my god.” The tears in his eyes threatened to spill over, but he didn’t care anymore.

Quackity’s body tensed at the sudden embrace. “Do I… do I know you?”

Tommy couldn’t help but chuckle, remembering his home with a sad smile. “No. No, you don’t.” He let go of Quackity and held out his hand for a handshake. “I’m Tommy. How about I show you around?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly dunno what I'm supposed to say. I really didn't think that i was going to finish this fic when I started it, but here we are. Uhh, thank you guys so much for all your love and support, I think thats honestly the main reason why I continued this fic. 
> 
> I'm not done with this world yet, so don't worry. I still want to post some quick side chapters that I couldn't fit into the main plot itself, and then next week I'm gonna start working on the next big project, so keep your eyes peeled for that announcement :D
> 
> ok i love you have a nice day :D


	23. Random fun facts and also prequel pog?

Hey guess what. 

Eret content has officially begun. The prequel is called The Gilded Cage, and im so damn excited for it. Its gonna be so much fun :)

anyways, heres some random fun facts about the writing process and things that just didn't make the final cut

\- There were originally 2 triggers, however they have both been destroyed. 

\- The original command used by smp!Dream and Tommy targeted the nearest player, so thats a hint as to where the other trigger was 

-Time moves differently in the SMP world. There’s no direct correlation to how it moves in the real world, it just moves at whatever rate feels most natural to the plot.

\- Originally, eret swapping was completely non-canon, but me and pami liked the idea so much that we refused to take no for an answer and just made it work

\- Our original plan for SMP!Wilbur’s arc was to have him send out Tubbo to hunt down Tommy and Dream, but we both kinda forgot about that

\- The scene where Tommy has a mental breakdown in the airport and describes what it was like in the SMP was originally written out for a completely different scene (the part where smp!tommy finally tells rl!wilbur and tubbo about everything and wilbur asks if hes from the smp), but I didn’t feel like it fit quite right, but I was too damn proud of the angst to just throw it away.

\- most of our ideas came from the fact that it was normally really late for pami or me and we just sorta screamed at each other until something worked

\- The final bench scene was actually going to be longer and include more fluff, but as I was writing it I found that it came to a really nice and natural ending, and I didn’t want to ruin that. 

\- TRW is 165 pages long on google docs

\- schlatt is dead in the smp world. He was killed by smp!Dream the first time he got whitelisted on the actual server. In other words, the election arc doesn't ever happen, considering how the main villain is already dead

**Author's Note:**

> Uh, thank you for checking out this silly story :D  
> Thank you @rivy for helping out with editing and beta reading everything and making sure it all sounds good!  
> My tumblr is [@FireFly464](https://firefly464.tumblr.com/)  
> Pami's tumblr is [@pamiiap](https://pamiiap.tumblr.com/)
> 
> My Twitter/Instagram: @Fire_Fly464
> 
> Fanart is always more then welcome! If you do draw something, make sure to tag me or pami on whatever platform you post it on :D

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Eheh....Switchblade......](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27059572) by [FoundFandomFamilies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoundFandomFamilies/pseuds/FoundFandomFamilies)
  * [Good as dead.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27091636) by [CripplingJoy (turtledove542)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtledove542/pseuds/CripplingJoy)
  * [Where am I?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27370216) by [This_isnt_my_real_name](https://archiveofourown.org/users/This_isnt_my_real_name/pseuds/This_isnt_my_real_name)




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